Project Motherhood: Sakura Minamoto
by Gamer95
Summary: While on her morning jog, Sakura gets caught in the rain. Upon taking shelter in an alley, she finds a young boy that will change her afterlife. Collab with SkorchNTorch
1. Chapter 1

It had been so nice when she left. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was all wonderful. She had even found time to pick up a bag of fried squid.

And then, almost out of nowhere, it started to rain.

Sakura Minamoto, otherwise known by her codename Number 1, had been enjoying the nice weather, but now found herself rushing to the shelter of an alleyway.

"No no no no no my makeup! Oh man, this is bad... I hate the rain, I hate the rain..." She was panicking as she rushed into the refuge of the alleyway. Why oh why did her morning runs tend to be so chaotic?

"Okay...I'm safe... I just need to call Kotaro and-" The girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard something.

Looking around nervously, she saw the lid of a garbage can roll past her, spinning around before coming to a stop, rattling the entire time.

"Oh, whew..." She sighed. "Probably just a stray cat or a racoon... Notthing to worry about!"

She took a deep breath and reached into her skirt pocket, pulling out her cell phone. As she was sending the text, however, something caught her interest...

It was a soft, timid whimper.

Slowly, she made her way towards the whimper, which was now accompanied by the sound of rustling. She was confused as to what kind of animal could make that noise. She looked behind a dumpster and gasped audibly.

Standing there was the tiniest, most fragile looking child she had ever seen...He was standing by the garbage can, when he turned to look at her with wide eyes.

Harry Potter was scared... His uncle had brought him on a family vacation only to abandon him in this alleyway. He was alone here for about two weeks, surviving by eating from the garbage... He was so hungry... But his hunger was lost when he noticed the person looking at him. She had sickly green skin and sunken red eyes, and she was approaching slowly.

Harry scooted back against the wall with a whimper, then buried his face in his knees.

"Please... leemebe..." The boy mumbled.

Sakura was at a loss for words, she didn't even seem to realize she was still approaching the small boy. A million questions racing through her mind. Where were the boy's parents?! Why was he out here all alone?! Why did he seem so weak?!

She finally reached the child and carefully put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched and whimpered even harder. "Hey...Hey, it's okay... I'm not here to hurt you." Sakura said gently, trying to soothe the poor scared child.

Harry however, just seemed to grow even more scared. He had been told many times that no one cared for a freak, and if they claimed they did, then they were lying. On top of that, this woman's skin was green. Harry didn't know what to do, and felt tears forming.

Sakura saw that the boy was about to cry and gasped. Hurriedly, she snatched the boy up and hugged him tightly. She took a moment to notice how light he was...It felt more like she was holding a pillow or a stuffed animal than a child...

The boy looked up at her with wide eyes, looking very confused. She gave him a smile. "There...See? I'm not so scary, am I?

"W..whoar..are you?" Harry managed to finally stammer out. A mixture of fear and exhaustion taking hold.

"My name's Sakura sweetie." She said with a kind, closed-eyed smile, adjusting him so his head rested against her shoulder, gently beginning to rub his back. "What's yours hon?"

"F..freak..." Harry mumbled.

Sakura's eyes widened at that, and she looked down at him in horror. "Huh? Who told you that?"

"M-My uncle..." He whimpered. Sakura tightened her hold on him.

"Aw, sweetie...Where is your uncle? Why are you out here?" Harry whimpered.

"He...He doesn't want me...He left me..."

The kind, caring eyes of Sakura were briefly overtaken by pure rage. His UNCLE had left him out here?! No... no. This had to be a mistake, maybe he had been forgotten, and his family was looking for him.

"Okay, where are they now?" She asked, calming herself.

"I..I dunno." Harry shook his head, making Sakura frown.

"Well... when did you last see them?"

"When my uncle threw me here... He put me here and said he didn't wanna see me... So I live here now..."

Sakura sat against the wall, hugging him tightly. "This...This is wrong... So wrong..." She breathed. She looked at his tiny hand and gasped when she saw a half eaten sandwich in his hand. "Oh my god you were eating out of the garbage..." She gently took the sandwich from his hand and put it down. "No...Here." She handed him the bag of fried shrimp she bought. "Eat this..."

Harry hesitated and looked up at her. She nodded. He slowly began to eat the squid, and got progressively faster, wanting to satisfy his hunger.

Soon, the squid was gone. Sakura gave him a sad smile. "There...Feel any better?"

Harry looked down. He wasn't as hungry...but he still felt really bad inside... "N-No..." He whimpered before he began to sob softly.

Sakura was almost in a panic, unsure of what to do. She wasn't sure if she should talk to him, try and get him some more food or if she...

Everything seemed to calm down as she realized what might be the best solution to the current predicament. Gently humming a calming lullaby, she calmly sang comforting words to the terrified child. Rocking him back and forth like a baby all the while.

Harry was confused, this green woman was giving him a gentle hug, something he had always wanted. And her voice... it was so mesmerizing.

He found himself unable to stop crying, however... It was weird... It felt oddly...good. Being held...Getting a lullaby... And he was feeling a little bit lighter with each sob...

"I...I can't stop crying..." He choked was afraid of that, but she held back her sadness and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Let it out sweetie. Cry until you feel better."

"But... I can't... Uncle Ver-"

"It doesn't matter what your 'uncle' ever told you. That man was wrong." Sakura said affirmatively. "Now please, if you need to, let it all out."

The boy whimpered before burying his face into her chest and letting out a series of loud, violent sobs. Sakura rubbed the back of his head and continued to sing her lullaby, trying her hardest to make him feel at ease.

After what felt like hours, the boy's sobs finally ceased, and he relaxed in the girl's embrace.

"There there little one. It's okay, I've got you. It's all gonna be okay." Sakura cooed into Harry's ear, rubbing his back soothingly. Harry had finally calmed down, and Sakura smiled as she heard him give an adorable yawn and his chest began to rise and fall as he slumbered in the kind woman' arms. "So cute..."

Suddenly, the girl tensed up. "Eek! Oh no, I need to call Kotaro before I get shot by a cop again!" She hurriedly pulled out her phone and sent her text explaining the situation. Less than a minute later, she received a text back.

STUPID ZOMBIE! CHECK THE WEATHER NEXT TIME, DUMMY! SAKI'S ON HER WAY NOW, HANG TIGHT AND STAY OUT OF SIGHT!

Sakura rolled her eyes, used to Kotaro's verbal abuse at this point.

"I'll show you who's the stupid zombie maggot-head..." She grumbled, moving around a corner to remain out of sight, keeping Harry held tight against her chest. Suddenly, something occurred to her. What was she going to do with Harry?

She looked down at the boy. She couldn't leave him here... She...She would have to bring him along... Oh boy...What would Kotaro say? What kind of effect would this have on her idol career? What would the girls think?!

She was having a mini freakout when her band's van pulled up near the alley. Saki's head emerged from the door. "Yo, Sakura! Hop in!"

With a smile on her face, she darted out form the alleyway, feeling the rain against her as she got into the van and the doors closed behind her. With a sigh of relief, she sat down as the van drove off.

"Sorry about that, Saki, I was walking down the street and-"

"Sakura, where'd you get the midget?" Sakura stiffened at Saki's question and looked down at the still snoozing Harry.

"Oh...Um...Well...I found this little boy in the alley...He...He's homeless... He was...eating out of the garbage and everything..."

"And he's here because..." Saki asked rhetorically.

"Well, I couldn't leave him there on his own!" Sakura defended herself. "He was going to starve to death!"

Saki frowned, seeming taken aback by that, but looked the boy over once again.

"Well, why is he here though?" Saki asked again.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Where else was I gonna take him, Saki?" Saki raised her hands placatingly.

"Easy, easy. I worded that wrong. I mean... why was he in the alley in the first place?" Sakura looked down at Harry.

"He...He said his uncle abandoned him..."

Saki's eyes widened and she scowled noticeably. She gripped the wheel and breathed through her nose audibly.

"Bastard..." She scowled.

"Saki! There's a child here!" Sakura scolded, covering Harry's ears and glaring at her bandmate.

"I'm sorry, it's just... how could someone be so inhuman!? We're zombies but even we have more of a heart than this kid's family!"

The retired biker took a deep breath and shook her head. "Okay... I'll help you talk Shades into keeping the kid around. I mean, hey...We got a hell of a lot more money lately, what's one more mouth to feed?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "Yeah... I wanna help him the best I can... Kotaro can't stop me..."

"Eh, I'm sure we'll be fine. Shades has a heart, I'm sure he'll see it your way."

"I hope so." Sakura smiled. Feeling Harry begin to squirm slightly, the zombie adjusted him in her arms and made sure that when he woke up, he'd see her smiling face.

"Wh..where am I?" Harry muttered, not feeling cold like he had been for the past two weeks. He felt... warm. He had a wonderful dream about a nice woman who had given him a hug, had sung him a song... Where was he now? Had his family come back for him!?

He whipped his head around wildly and began to breathe heavily. Sakura gasped. "Hey... Hey, it's okay! It's just me!" The boy looked up and gasped at the sight of the green skinned girl from his dream.

"You're...You're real..."

"Of course I am honey." Sakura smiled down at him. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"I..you're real... I thought it was a dream... and I was gonna wake up in my cupboard, then I was gonna get hit again..." Harry trailed off sadly.

'What did that monster do to you?' Sakura seethed internally, tightening her grip on Harry, as if trying to keep him safer.

"It's okay little guy. You're safe now." She reassured him.

Saki turned back. "Hey, kid." Harry squeaked at the sound of her voice. "Where can we find the guy that did this stuff to you?" Harry looked down.

"I dunno..."

"Saki, you know we can't do anything. It'll damage our career." Sakura said with a stern glance.

"So?" The ex-biker growled. "I know some people who can do it for us. Make him regret he ever laid a hand on-"

"Don't hurt him." Harry squeaked. "Please."

The two looked to one another, shocked.

"Why?" Saki asked, not meaning too, but she wasn't able to stop herself.

"Cause he doesn't deserve it... I did..." Harry replied softly, looking down.

"No." Sakura grabbed his chin and made him look at her. "No... don't say that. Nothing you ever could have done could make you deserve to be abandoned."

"But- I'm a freak." Harry finally got out. "And... he was trying to get the freakishness out of me."

"Nononononono baby..." Sakura cooed, hugging Harry tightly to her chest. "You're not a freak, you're an adorable little boy."

"Cute? Freaks can't be cute... I'm a hideous freak!" Harry cried, tears filling in his eyes once again.

Sakura tightened her hold on him. "Stop it...No more thinking that way. You are not a freak. Look at me. I have green skin. Am I a freak?" She asked with a tilted head.

"N...no..." Harry finally replied, scared of angering the kind woman. "You're pretty... I'm just a freak..."

Sakura sighed and nuzzled Harry's cheek.

"Sweetie, listen to me. You're an adorable baby boy, you're one of the cutest things I've ever seen, and you're perfectly normal. THere's NOTHING freaky about you."

"But... I do freaky things!" Harry Insisted.

"Like what...?"

"I...I make things change colour and float! I accidentally make things appear where they weren't!" He looked down. "It's bad..."

Sakura and Saki looked to one another again, then Sakura looked back to Harry while Saki looked back to the road.

"You can do that?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"I can't control it... and I'm not meant to..." Harry muttered.

"That's kinda cool." Saki spoke from the front.

"H-Huh...?" Harry squeaked out softly.

"Yeah. Really, that's some seriously cool stuff." Saki said with a grin. "Can ya do that stuff whenever you want?" Harry shook his head.

"Uh-uh... It just happens...When I don't want it to..."

"Aw, it's okay kid." Saki smiled. "I'm sure you'll figure it out as you get older."

"But... Everyone will think I'm a freak! Miss... Miss..."

"Oh, did I not tell you my name? I'm Saki, kid."

"Hi, Miss Saki..." Sakura wrapped her arms around the boy gently.

"Hey...Do you know your real name? I think that's important to know..." She said gently.

"Um...I...I think it's Harry..." The boy said softly. "Y-Yeah...That sounds right... My name is Harry..."

"Harry? That's a cute name!" Sakura smiled.

"You think so?" Harry asked timidly, feeling weird that someone complimented him in such a way.

"Yup!" She grinned. "It's adorable! Just like you!"

"You think I'm adorable?" Harry asked again.

"Of course! You're the cutest little thing I've ever seen!" Sakura giggled playfully poking Harry's nose.

Harry let out a squeak and covered his eyes. Sakura giggled. "Aww, you're just a shy little guy." She cooed, nuzzling the top of his head.

"Yo, Sakura, you might wanna send Shades a text telling him what's going on. I think he'd be a lot more pissed if you brought the pipsqueak home unexpected."

"Well, then he's just gonna have to deal with it." Sakura shrugged, nonchalantly. "Nothing's gonna change my mind." Sakura felt something tug on her sleeve and looked down at Harry. "What's up?"

"Um, where are we going?" Harry asked, finally seeming to realize they were in a van.

"Oh, well, if you'd like, you can come stay with me and my friends for awhile." Sakura smiled.

Harry looked up at her with wide eyes. "Are you sure...? Wh-What if I do something bad...? What if your friends don't like me? What if..." Harry's voice trailed off. "I...I want to come with you...If that's really okay..."

"Well of course you can, sweetie." The undead teen replied, patting his head. "I wouldn't have offered if you couldn't."

"M-Miss Sakura...? I didn't wanna make you mad, but um...why are you and Miss Saki green...? Are...Are you sick?" Harry asked timidly.

Saki laughed out right, surprising Sakura and Harry before covering her mouth and laughing a little bit more.

"No honey, we're not sick." Sakura shook her head. "Saki, myself and our friends... well, we're dead."

"But you're alive..." Harry replied, a childish confusion in his tone.

Sakura looked up at the ceiling, thinking about the best way to explain it without scaring him. "Okay... You know what zombies are, right?" Harry shook his head. "Well, they're...pretty much living dead people. We died, and then we came back to life...but not really because...our dead bodies are able to move."

Harry blinked a few times, trying to process everything he had just been told.

"You're dead?" He asked.

"In a sense, yes." Sakura nodded.

"But you're also alive..."

"Yes."

"I'm confused..." Harry muttered, shaking his head.

Sakura sighed. "Well, the simple point is...we died and came back to life as zombies." Harry decided to just go with it and nodded his head.

"Um...Well... even if you are dead, you're still pretty." He complimented.

"Aw, thanks!" Sakura grinned, hugging Harry again. Saki looked in the mirror and smiled, seeing her friend hugging the small boy.

'He is pretty cute...' She admitted mentally. She stared at the road in silence, watching as Sakura interacted with the boy. She had known her redhead friend was a big softie, but she'd never known that Sakura could be such a mom. 'Still, after all the kid's been through... I think she's exactly what he needs.' She smiled. In the back, Sakura had been playfully talking and poking Harry, making him giggle as she cooed at how how cute it sounded.

Eventually, they reached the house that the group known as Franchouchou called home. Since they'd started making more appearances, they'd been making more money, and as a result, they'd been able to move into a better house, with more space, more bathrooms, and their own bedrooms, with actual beds.

"Are you ready to see your new home Harry?" Sakura asked, and Harry tensed somewhat at the question.

"Um... It's big..." He mumbled. "Do I have to clean it all?

Sakura blinked, then gave him a sad look. "No, Harry... We all have our own chores to do. You don't have to do anything." She reassured him, patting his back.

"Yeah, just leave all the hardcore labour to the big kids." Saki said, giving the boy a pat on the head and a big toothy grin. He smiled softly. "There's a smile!" Saki exclaimed. "I like it. It fits you."

Harry blushed and tried to hide it by looking away, resting his head on Sakura's shoulder as the zombie carried him up the steps towards their house. Sakura let out a soft chuckle and glanced over to Saki.

"Saki, you're embarrassing him!" She chided, jokingly.

Saki just snickered in response as they entered the house. Sakura took a deep breath as Kotaro's office door opened. "Well, well, little miss raindrops returns! Remember, Sakura, always remember to check the-" Kotaro froze when he saw Harry. Then he screamed loudly, promptIng Harry to do the same. "SAKURA! HOW COULD YOU?! YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO INTERACT WITH THE LIVING AND NOW YOU'RE STEALING CHILDREN?! YOU FOOL! NOW WE'RE SUNK! GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!"

"KOTARO! CALM DOWN!" Sakura screamed. "YOU'RE SCARING HARRY!"

The room went silent, aside form Harry's borderline hyperventilating, and Sakura immediately turned her attention to the terrified boy.

"Hey, it's okay hon. Kotaro's nice, he's just..." She trailed off trying to think of the right thing to say.

"He's scary..." Harry mumbled.

Kotaro felt those words pierce his chest and reacted accordingly. He fell to his knees and clutched at his chest. "Sc-Scary...? The boy wounds me deeply...!"

"What's all the noise about?" Ai's voice sounded out and the rest of the group stepped into the room to see just what was the matter.

"Long story short, Sakura fond a homeless kid, brought him home, and now Kotaro's having an emotional meltdown." Saki replied.

"A... homeless kid?" Ai said in disbelief, looking over to see Sakura tightly clutching a small, cowering boy. "Aw... he's shy."

"I'm sorry, could someone please explain to me how this all happened?" Junko asked aloud, her tone calm but worry clear on her face.

Sakura sighed and explained to the others exactly what had happened. How she had gotten caught in the rain and taken shelter in the alley, how she had found the boy alone in the alley, how she had comforted and fed him, and how he had told her how he was abandoned.

Needless to say, the others were shocked to say the least. To think that someone who abuse a child so badly to begin with, let alone abandon him! Even Kotaro, the absolute drama queen he was, seemed somewhat angered, and was uncharacteristically quiet.

"I see." The man said calmly. "Well then. I suppose there's only one option." He pointed forward dramatically. "Young Harry shall have to live under our roof!"

At this point, Tae had recognized the smell of squid on Harry, and sniffed at him. Opening her mouth, she gently bit down in the top of his head, not to hurt him, but to see if she could taste squid.

Harry was startled at the bite and first, and quite scared as well. It came out of nowhere! However, it...didn't hurt a bit. In fact, it actually made him giggle.

"Th-That tickles...!" He giggled out.

While the others had seen Tae bite people in the past as a sign of affection, they had never seen someone giggle at it. Tae was absorbed by the smell of squid, and everyone else listened to Harry giggle as the black-haired zombie continued to make him laugh. Sakura was unsure of how to take it all, but she did love to hear Harry's laugh. Even Tae had noticed Harry's giggles, and she was noticeably pleased to hear it as well, continuing to gently nip at the boy's head, until eventually, Sakura carefully moved Harry away, causing the unawakened zombie to whine. "That's enough for now Tae." Sakura said calmly. Tae moaned slightly but seemed to nod, understanding.

"So he's really gonna stay here?" Lily asked, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet. Sakura shrugged and smiled.

"If Kotaro says so, then I guess he is."

"Yay!" Lily rushed forward to get a better look at Harry. "I've always wanted to be a big sister! Can I hold him?!"

Sakura looked at Harry, who looked at Lily, then sighed. "Be very gentle, he's still rather shy." Slowly relinquishing Harry into Lily's arms, the small zombie seemed overjoyed to be holding him.

"Wow, he's really small and light!" The young zombie chirped. "Kinda like a little teddy bear!" Harry looked up at her timidly.

"I...I like teddies..."

"So do I!" Lily said with a grin. "And you're cuddly like one too!" Harry gave a small smile up at Lily and nuzzled a little bit closer.

Sakura put a hand to her mouth and giggled softly at the scene before her. "Aww... His first day here and he's already bonding with Tae and Lily..." She cooed. By now the others were looking at the two, feeling a sense of warmth at how happy Harry seemed.

"So Sakura... I take it your essentially his mother now?" Ai said looking over to her friend.

"I...I..." Sakura stammered trying to find an answer. "I don't know..."

Saki put her elbow on the red headed zombie's shoulder with a tooth-baring grin. "Ah, c'mon, girl, you're a total mombie! Don't deny it!" Sakura gave her friend a flat look.

"Mombie? Really?"

"Hey, you found the kid, fed him, comforted him, you've clearly bonded with him, and I think it's fair to say Harry's gotten attached to you."

"And Tae and Lily have gotten attached to him." Junko added.

"Yeah, but...MOMBIE?"

"Hey, you're just jealous you didn't come up with it first."

Sakura looked back at Harry and adorned a worried expression. Yugiri caught on. "What seems to trouble you, Lady Sakura?" She asked.

"Well... I wanna take care of him, but... Is it allowed? I mean... Will it have any negative effects on our group? I know that might be a selfish thought, but...We came so far..."

"I think the only issue would be when we have a show, but other than that. I doubt there'd be any negative effect." Saki stated. "I mean, look how happy he makes everyone, and he's been here all of five minutes."

Sakura smiled softly. "Yeah...I guess you're right..." She looked back at the boy interacting with Lily and smiled softly. "Aww..."

"Yes, adorable, but we have something vitally important to address." Kotaro approached Harry.. "Young man! You like Sakura and pals, right?!"

"Um...Y-Yes... They're super nice..."

"Well then! There is something vitally important you must know... Never, under any circumstances, should you ever let anyone know that they're zombies! Because if you do, they'll be hauled off to a lab! And the guys in white coats will do horrible things to them! And for the rest of your life, you'll have to imagine them in their cells, screaming "Harry! Why did you reveal our secret?!" Is that what you want?!"

"No!" Harry squeaked. "Miss Sakura's the first person whose ever been nice to me! I don't want anything to happen to them! I'll keep quiet! I promise!"

Sakura moved forward and took Harry into her arms, whispering soothingly to try and calm him down.

"I know honey, I know." She smiled. Then she shot Kotaro a glare. "Why would you scare him like that? Hasn't he already been through enough?" She scolded the man.

"Well, I just wanted to be sure I made my point." Kotaro replied with a shrug.

Sakura sighed and looked down at Harry. She saw how he clung to her, much like a child clinging to their mother. She smiled, knowing that not only did she know she could take care of him, but her friends would be there to support her all the way.

"Well, how about we introduce ourselves." Ai finally spoke up, getting Harry's attention. "Hi there little guy, my name's Ai. The Drama King over there is Kotaro..."

Junko gave the boy a small smile and a wave. "Hi there. My name is Junko. Nice to meet you."

"I'm your big sister, Lily!"

"Greetings, young Harry. I am Yugiri."

"You've met me and Sakura. The girl with the long black hair? That'd be Tae."

"Hi Miss Yuri.. Miss Lily..." Harry greeted, somewhat sheepishly.

"D'aw! He can't pronounce your name!" Lily teased.

Yugiri tilted her head. "Well, the poor boy is very young. It's only natural names would be difficult for him." She said calmly. Lily just giggled.

"Oh! We have to introduce Romero!" She remembered. Giving a brief whistle, a happy panting could be heard as a tiny dog came bouncing into the room. Harry was frightened somewhat by the dog's appearance, but the puppy seemed to run over to him and began bouncing up and down at Sakura's feet.

"Aww, Romero wants to meet you!" Sakura said with a smile. Harry was hesitant.

"H-He's not gonna bite me, right...? My aunt's dog liked to bite me a lot..."

"Of course not. He's a nice doggy!" Sakura said sweetly, getting down on her knees so Romero could look at Harry. The zombie dog sniffed the newcomer curiously, then let out a happy bark and licked Harry's cheek. His stubby tail wagging.

Harry let out a soft giggle at the feeling of the dog's tongue rubbing across his cheek. "G-Good doggie..." He said softly, reaching out and petting him. Romero barked in a happy way and continued licking his new friend. Harry scratched Romeo behind the ear, making Romeo rub up against his hand. Sakura smiled and held Harry so he could interact with the zombie dog freely. Romero hopped up and rested his front paws on Harry's arm, wanting to be held. Sakura adjusted Harry, setting him in one arm, and picked up Romeo in the other. Slowly handing the puppy to Harry, the small boy giggled as he held the puppy in his arms. Romero seemed excited to be held by his new best friend.

"Good doggy!" Harry laughed as the zombie puppy continued to lick his face. The girls all smiled warmly at the scene, save for Tae, who kept her trademark blank stare. Ai noticed something, however...

"He hasn't been eating enough, has he?"

"No." Sakura frowned. "When I found him, he was eating out of the garbage. After his family left him there." Ai's eyes shot open in shock and she grolwed somewhat before shaking her head.

"That isn't right." The zombie grumbled. Ai turned to go into the kitchen. "I'm going to make some soup... He's probably starving half to death by now..." Sakura smiled after her friend.

"Thank you, Ai." Picking up Harry and Romero, Sakura walked into the main room and sat down on a couch, setting Harry on her lap and wrapping her arms around him. "How do you like your new home little guy?" Sakura asked.

"It's so pretty." Harry smiled. Romero yipped and seemed to be asking for more attention, and Harry went back to petting the puppy.

Sakura giggled. "Yeah...It is a nice place, isn't it?" She watched Harry play with the dog for a little longer before she heard footsteps.

"All right, the soup is on." Ai said as she entered the room.

"C'mon Harry, it's supper time." Sakura smiled, picking Harry up again.

"But... wasn't what you gave me my weekly fill?" Harry asked timidly. Sakura froze and looked down at Harry shocked.

"W..weekly fill?" She asked, horrified.

"Uh-huh...I get something once a week and that's it. Usually it's bread but sometimes I get leftovers from the stuff I make... The leftovers are my favourite..." Sakura pulled Harry into a tight embrace, a few silent tears running down her face.

"No." She muttered. "No that won't do... Harry, we'll make sure you're fed everyday, don't you worry about a thing."

Harry was confused but also shocked by the statement. Why was Miss Sakura being so nice to him? He wanted to ask, but found himself in a dining hall with the other women, so decided he could ask later.

He sat in silence as Sakura set him down in a chair, and he blinked as a little bowl of soup was put in front of him. "Um...Th-Thank you..." He said softly.

"No problem sweetie, now eat up." Ai grinned, continuing to place bowls down for the others as they all sat down. Harry seemed confused about how to eat the soup, and it took him a few attempts to get a spoonful that didn't accidentally fall back into the bowl.

He put the spoonful of soup to his mouth and slurped it up, only to wince as he felt it burn his tongue. "Nn...Hot..." The boy whined softly. Almost immediately, Sakura was there. She gently took his hand and scooped another spoonful, then blew on it gently, before slowly guiding Harry's hand to his mouth. The soup this time was warm, and more importantly, delicious.

"There, isn't that better?" Sakura calmly asked. Harry let out a soft hum of delight at the delicious warm food, and Sakura giggled softly. "Aww, I'll take that as a yes. Okay, here's another one down the hatch!" Harry opened his mouth and Sakura continued to scoop spoonfuls of soup up and gently feed him, all the while, the others were eating, but all couldn't help but grin at the cute sight before them of Sakura taking care of Harry.

Finally, Harry finished his food, and Sakura smiled. Then the boy let out a soft yawn, causing the young zombie to tilt her head to the side. "Oh, looks like someone's ready for a nap."

"But I'm not tir-" Harry began to insist but was cut off by a yawn. "I need to help clean and..." Sakura tenderly picked Harry up, resting his head against her chest and shushing him calmly.

"C'mon sweetie, it's nap time." She smiled. She walked upstairs with the boy held snugly against her bosom, patting his back gently as she entered her bedroom. She approached her bed, pulling back the pink-coloured blankets so she could drape them over the boy's tiny, frail body. Grabbing the teddy bear she'd been given as a gift for a performance at a children's charity event, she placed it in the boy's tiny arms gently.

Harry seemed to clutch the small bear closely to his chest, cooing cutely as he seemed to be getting comfortable under the blankets. Gently stroking his head, Sakura hummed another calming lullaby to lull him to sleep. In a matter of moments, Harry could be heard peacefully sleeping, but as he drifted off, Sakura could've sword she heard Harry mumble a single word.

"Mommy."

The girl stiffened and her face turned beet red. She clenched her fists and held them up under her chin, letting out a soft squeal. Giving the boy a grin, she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Good night Harry... I love you." Sakura whispered into his ear. It was true... Even despite just meeting the boy, he had brought out a motherly side she'd never known she'd had, or ever get to use... She'd hoped to be a mother someday when she was alive... Now, thanks to Harry, she had the chance to do so after death.

Giving Harry one last kiss on the cheek, she quietly crept back to the door, feeling something move past her, and smiled as Romero walked past and into the bedroom, jumping up onto the bed and curling up next to Harry. With one last smile, Sakura closed the door.


	2. Chapter 2

The group had decided that, while Harry napped, they would do a little bit of practicing for their next performance. They noted that Sakura was doing exceptionally well due to being in high spirits. "Y'know, I haven't seen Sakura this happy in awhile." Junko commented.

"Yeah, ever since she got all her memories back, she had a bit of a moody side. Guess the kid's really good for her." Saki agreed.

"My guess is that Lady Sakua values the feeling of feeling needed." Yugiri chipped in.

"And have you seen that little cutie? He can brighten anyones day!" Lily added with a grin. Tae seemed to moan slightly, signalling her agreement.

Sakura, having overheard the others. blushed slightly. It was true she had been feeling a lot happier recently, and deep down she knew all of it was because of the little boy she had found.

Soon enough, their practice session ended, and the girls took a seat to discuss their next performance. "...And that's how you do it, Tae." Sakura concluded her teaching session with the still somewhat feral zombie, who nodded with a grunt.

"Hey, it's been a while since you put the kid down for his nap. Maybe you should go check up on him." Saki suggested.

"Oh, shoot! He's probably awake by now!" Sakura exclaimed. "I'll be back in a few minutes!"

Hurrying up the stairs, Sakura came to a fast stop and carefully opened the door to her room, quietly, as to not wake him if he wasn't awake yet.

"Harry?" She whispered.

She heard a soft grunt and saw the boy stirring in his slumber as he groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes "Hmm...? Where am I...?" He mumbled. Sakura smiled and moved to his side.

"Still with me, Harry. Still with me."

Harry looked up and give a genuine smile, Sakura felt her heart warm at the sight of it.

"Hi Miss Sakura." Harry mumbled, still waking up. He unconsciously reached forward somewhat, as if asking for a hug, and Sakura was more than happy to scoop him up and hold him close.

"Hi, Harry. Did you have a good sleep?" The redhead zombie cooed, patting his back. Harry nodded his tiny head.

"Your bed is really soft..." He mumbled into her chest. "S'nice..."

"Aw, that's great to hear." Sakura said in a playful tone. "I see Romero kept you company." Upon hearing his name, the dog's head perked up and he looked around, his stubby tail wagging in anticipation. Sakura giggled and patted the dog's head. "Good boy, Romero." She cooed as the dog licked her hands. She turned to Harry. "C'mon, little guy. Let's go back downstairs."

"Okay." Harry said, Sakura could tell he would've answered that even if he didn't want to, she frowned but understood where he was coming from. As the two made there way down, Harry looked up at his new caregiver in wonder.

"Miss Sakura? I heard some sounds coming from downstairs. What were they?"

Sakura smiled down at him. "Oh, me and the other girls were practicing." She explained, causing Harry to curiously tilt his head to the side.

"Practicing?"

"Yep! We're idols!"

"Wow!" Harry said excitedly, eyes sparkling, before looking confused. "What's an idol?"

"Well, an idol is like a musician." Sakura explained with a grin. "We go to big shows and perform for lots of people."

"Are you good?" Harry asked, his eyes wide in amazement.

"I like to think so." Sakura laughed.

"Th...the song you sang for me was pretty." Harry stammered, somewhat nervous. Sakura cooed and kissed the top of his head.

"Aww, thanks. Lily actually made that one. It's called 'To My Dearest'." Sakura explained to the boy.

"Wow...Miss Lily made a really good song..."

"Her dad sure thought so."

Harry briefly had a sad smile as he looked up at Sakura, but looked away so she didn't see it. The Idol thought she saw something but shook her head as she entered the room. In about two seconds, Lily was by Sakura's side again.

"Hi Harry!" She squeaked in her energetic way. "How ya doing?"

"G...good Miss Lily." Harry stammered, taken aback by her sudden appearance.

"Aww, you don't need to call me Miss Lily! Just Lily is fine! I'm too young to be a Miss!"

Harry nodded his head slowly. "M-Miss Sakura sang me your song..." He said softly. Lily grinned.

"Ooh! Did you like it?!" She asked.

"It was pretty..."

"Good! I knew I did a good job writing it!"

The others stopped what they were doing and watched the interaction between their smallest member, and their newest member. It was rather adorable to see not only Sakura in such a loving manner, but to see Lily's joy at just about everything about Harry. Sakura gently set Harry down on the couch next to Ai, who gave Harry a toothy, warm grin.

"Hey, little guy." She said, patting his head, causing him to smile softly.

"Hi, Miss Ai... Heehee... It rhymes..." Ai laughed gently and suddenly picked Harry up, getting an adorable 'Eep!' out of him.

"Indeed it does! Do you think you're going to be an Idol when you grow up?" She said playfully, setting him on her lap.

Harry blinked and looked up at her. "I...I dunno..." He mumbled.

"Can there even be male idols?" Saki asked. The group went silent, looking to one another unsure of the answer. Eventually, Ai shrugged and hugged Harry.

"Well, whatever you want to do, we'll be there to help you."

"Thank you..." Harry said with a small smile. He liked everyone here. They were nice, with the possible, occasional exception of Mr. Kotaro, who still scared him.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Saki asked. "We're done practicing, we've already ate lunch... I think we've had our big surprise for the day."

"I'm fine staying where I am." Ai remarked, nuzzling the top of Harry's head. "All right then. Guess it's TV time." Ai said, turning the TV set on. Flipping through the channels, she found there was the usual stuff, news, game shows, a few animated tv shows aimed for adults... she frowned, there was nothing she thought Harry would like.

By this point, Sakura had taken Harry back, because he missed her.

Suddenly, the TV stopped on a very familiar commercial... "Miss Sakura, look! It's you and everyone else! You're dancing in chicken costumes!" Harry said excitedly. Sakura blinked, a bit confused by what Harry said, then her eyes widened and she grinned.

"Oh my gosh! Drive-In Tori ad!" Saki squeed. Harry nuzzled close to Sakura, eager to see whatever this was, as a joyful tune began to play.

"Ah, Tori... I'll always love you...Oh hey! We should get that for dinner! Harry, my dude, you haven't LIVED until you've had Drive-In Tori!" Saki exclaimed.

Harry, however, was mindlessly swaying along to the song, a childish grin on his face. It wasn't clear if he heard Saki or not, but it was clear he was loving the song. He seemed to be trying to hum along to it, while Sakura sang the words she knew all to well.

The commercial ended and the boy's shoulders sagged. "Aww... Will it come on again?" He asked softly. Sakura rested her chin atop his head.

"I'm sure it will."

After flipping through the channels a bit more, she managed to find a channel that showed kids cartoons.

"Have you ever watched any of these Harry?" Sakura asked, not sure what they were watching.

"No..." Harry replied sadly. "I wasn't allowed to, I always had to do the chores, and if I was found watching the telly I-"

"Okay, I get it." Sakura quickly replied. "Well, here you can watch it whenever you like."

She wrapped her arms around the boy's tummy and they watched the cartoon. Saki laughed at the TV. "Ha! These American cartoons are hilarious! What is this called, Fred, Fredd n Freddy or something?"

"I dunno." Sakura shrugged. "Never watched much as a kid, I grew up on Yu-Ge-Go and Techmon."

They turned their attention to the TV, which depicted three boys (of varying intelligence) attempting to come up with a plan to get money for jawbreakers. There was something about one of the boys, Freddy, that seemed oddly similar to Kotaro in his eccentircoes and mannerisms.

"Heh...If only Shades got half the amount of abuse this kid does, eh?" Saki said, nudging Yugiri with her shoulder.

"It is unbecoming of me to wish harm on others. ...But yes."

"Woof."

Looking down, Harry smiled and reached for Romero, who happily jumped into the small boy's arms. Continuing to watch the show, Harry found himself laughing at the escapades of Fred and the others, as no matter how smart their plan seemed... it always came crashing down in the end. "I hope they still get their jawbreakers... Even if I don't really get it... Why would you want to have a broken jaw? That would really, really hurt."

"No silly, a jawbreaker is a type of candy, it doesn't actually break your jaw." Sakura giggled.

"Oh..." Harry replied, feeling a bit bashful. However, that quickly turned back to laughter as both the show and Romero's constant licks continued.

The group watched the television until dinnertime. True to her word, Saki drove out to pick up some Drive-In Tori. She was still very grateful to Kotaro for allowing her to have her driver's license.

When she returned, the others eagerly awaited the food, and soon everyone was sitting about in the main room eating dinner.

"Open up Harry! This is really yummy!" Sakura said with a closed-eyed smile. Harry obediently opened his mouth wide, letting out a quiet 'Aaah' as Sakura put the little ball of chicken in his mouth. His face lit up. It really was yummy!

"So good..." He mumbled, his mouth full. His eyes were sparkling as she happily chewed and swallowed, then opened his mouth again.

"Yay! He likes it!" Lily cheered. Sakura smiled and fed him another mouthful, then another, and another. Soon, Harry shook his head, and simply moved a bit closer to Sakura, who picked him up and rested his head on her shoulder, He looked over her shoulder and saw Yugiri smile at him with a friendly wave. He hesitated, but eventually smiled back at her.

"You full, Harry?" Sakura asked kindly. "I don't want to make you sick."

"It was so good." Harry repeated.

Saki gave the boy a grin. "Heeey, we got a fellow Tori fan over here!" She said joyfully. "Good to know that the place will be loved for generations to come!"

Harry gave a small giggle as Sakura adjusted Harry in her arms. Finally, the zombie asked "You want to hold him?"

Saki seemed surprised, but nodded. "If he's okay with it." She added.

"Harry, is it okay if Saki hold you?" Sakura asked gently. Harry seemed to think it over. He really liked Miss Sakura, but Miss Saki was also nice to him, and she didn't seem to be acting... Finally, he looked up at Sakura and nodded.

Smiling, the redhead handed the boy over to her blonde friend, who took him with a grin. "What's up, little man?" She said, setting the boy on her lap.

"Um...I think I see a fly..." Harry said, pointing upward. Everyone looked up, seeing a fly on the ceiling.

Saki snickered as Junko yelped and ran for the flyswatter. "I don't mean literally, squirt. I mean how ya doing? You feeling good, or are you feeling good?"

"Oh. I'm doing okay." Harry replied. It seemed like he was going to say more, and eventually he shifted in Saki's lap before adding. "I still feel weird that all this is happening. I'm scared it's all a dream. I don't wanna wake up..."

Saki gave the boy a smirk. "You fell asleep twice already and you're still here, pipsqueak. If you haven't woken up in that alley by now, you're definitely not gonna."

"I..I know..." Harry mumbled. "It's just... you're all so nice to me... And... and... And I don't know why!" Saki was taken aback by the genuine distress on Harry's face, and after a few flustered moments, she hugged him tightly like she had seen Sakura do. Gently trying to calm him.

"Buddy, we're nice to you because we like you. You're an adorable, good kid. Why wouldn't we like you?" She spoke calmly and gently to Harry.

Harry looked down. "I...I dunno..." He admitted. "But if they hated me so much, there must be SOMETHING wrong with me..." Saki ruffled his hair.

"Well, I ain't seeing it." She replied.

"Thank you Miss Saki." Harry replied, a small smile on his face, as he tried to hug Saki, but his arms were too short, so he ended up wrapping them around her waist. Saki smiled none the less and hugged him back.

Sakura then noticed something. "Aww, he's all dirty... I'm gonna go ahead and get him washed up." She picked the boy up. "C'mon, Harry. Bath time."

"Um. Is it gonna burn?" Harry asked nervously.

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"Whenever I had a bath... it was as punishment. It was always really hot or really cold. And they'd hold my head under and I couldn't breathe... It was really scary."

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Sakura hugged Harry tightly. "It-It'll be a nice bath, Harry...I promise it won't be painful or scary..."

"You promise?" Harry asked, looking up at Sakura, his eyes wide with a mixture of hope and slight fear.

"Of course." Sakura nodded, gently taking Harry out from her friends arms and carrying him into the bathroom.

Sakura set the boy down on the counter and started to run the bath. She made extra sure that it was set to a reasonable temperature. When she was satisfied, she turned off the water. She approached Harry and carefully removed his shirt...

And she let out a horrified gasp and clapped her hands over her mouth.

His chest was covered in cuts and scars, several of which were a gangrenous green darker than her zombified skin. Splotches of red and orange dotted across his body. If that wasn't bad enough, she could count every last one of his ribs. She was afraid if she looked too hard she'd see his spine while she was at it. All his wounds seemed like they had never been cleaned, and were left to continue to bleed out until they stopped naturally. She had been used to the smell of death for so long that she hadn't realized that a stench that was off was coming from Harry.

She stared blankly at the boy, her mind processing the horrifying sight. She knew he was abused, but...this? This was absolutely horrific... Slowly, she wrapped her arms around the little boy and hugged him tightly. "Miss Sakura?" Harry asked confused.

"I...I...I..I'm SO SORRY baby..." She finally managed to get out, tears running down her face.

"I didn't mean to make you sad! I'm sorry!" Harry cried, hugging Sakura's head, trying to comfort her.

"No, it wasn't you...It was...It was whoever did THIS to you... Oh my GOD, this is horrible! It's...It's not right, it's not fair! You don't deserve to be hurt like this!"

At this point, the others had rushed in to see what was the matter.

"Sakura what's the-" Junko began, but all the women went dead silent when they saw Harry's chest. "Oh my God..."

"He...he...he..." Lily stammered, trying to form words.

"I think I'm gonna puke..." Saki muttered.

Harry was now really upset by this point. Ai stepped forward. "Sakura, give Harry his bath. Clean up his wounds the best you can. I'm gonna go get the first aid kit ready."

"I have an old remedy that may help. I just need a few things from the garden." A very solemn Yugiri said.

"Good. Everything helps." Ai said to the older girl with a nod.

Sakura looked back to Harry, whose eyes were squeezed tight. Sighing audibly, she gently picked up the scraggly boy and set him into the warm bath. Harry winced slightly as the water hit his wounds. "Is it too hot Harry?"

"No, it just...hurts a little bit..." Sakura nodded sadly.

"Yeah...Those are some seriously nasty injuries... I had a feeling it was gonna sting a little..." Leaning down, she kissed a few of the injuries. Harry winced but cooed as she kissed him. Gently cupping some water, she began gently cleaning the wounds, doing her best to clean them up, but not to hurt Harry. He sat in silence, trying not to react to the stings he felt. Sakura noticed and gave him a sad look. How badly she wanted to make this monster pay... She gently began to scrub his hair, cleaning it the best she could, grimacing somewhat at the slimy feel of it as the shampoo did its thing.

Soon enough, Sakura felt she had cleaned him off the absolute best she could, and she carefully rinsed him off before pulling him out of the tub and wrapping him in a big fluffy towel. Only Harry's face was visible as Sakura carried the bundle into her bedroom, setting it down on the bed.

"Feel better sweetie?" She asked.

"I feel clean, it feels nice." Harry replied, looking up at her.

"Great!" Sakura grinned as she held the fluffy bundle close.

She carried him downstairs, where Ai was waiting with the first aid kit. "Okay...We need to get this stuff disinfected and fast." She said calmly, though not without a slight quake in her voice.

"What does dis...en...fected mean?" Harry asked, trying to sound out the word he didn't understand.

"It means you won't get sick from these wounds." Sakura explained.

"But don't I deserve them?" Harry asked innocently.

"No. Don't even think that." Sakura chided lightly. Harry looked down.

"But I...I don't know what else to think..."

"Think about this; you're a wonderful little boy, you never deserved what you went through, and you should never see yourself as a freak. You're perfectly normal." Sakura replied, determination in her tone.

"You think so?" Harry asked, a tint of hopefulness in his voice.

"I KNOW so." Sakura nodded. "And so do all the others."

Harry looked down at the floor timidly. "If...If you're really, really sure, then I guess I have to believe you..." He said shyly. Sakura put a hand to her mouth and giggled.

"Daw... Don't worry Harry. You'll see we're telling the truth soon enough!"

Harry smiled up at Sakura, who happily returned the smile as Yugiri and Junko watched from the doorway.

"They're so cute~" Ai cooed.

"Yes, Lady Sakura seems to be adjusting to her new role rather nicely." Yugiri nodded with a faint smile.

Sakura sat back and watched as Ai carefully cleaned out and disinfected the wounds the best she could. When all was finished, Ai sighed. "Okay...That's the best I can do." Ai patted Harry's head. "Sorry, I know it stings."

"It's okay... I got worse owies..." Sakura bit her lip, not liking hearing that. But decided not to press too much, but still... she needed SOME questions answered.

"Harry, I know this may not be fun, but can you tell me about... Them?" Sakura finally asked.

"Them?" Harry replied, confused.

"Your family."

Harry looked down nervously. "Do...Do I have to...?" Sakura shook her head.

"If it's too hard, then I won't force you."

"Is the little one ready?" A voice asked from the doorway. Everyone turned and saw Yugiri walk into the room holding a bowl that seemed to have steam gently wafting off of it.

"I think so. Thanks a bunch Yugiri." Sakura sighed in relief.

Yugiri smiled and nodded. "But of course." She looked at Harry and gave a sad smile. "Young Harry...Could I get you to lay on your stomach, please?" Harry obediently sprawled front first on the floor. Yugiri dipped her fingers into the salve she made, then carefully applied it to the boy's injuries. She studied her handiwork before smiling and nodding in satisfaction. "There, you should feel better soon little one." She stated. Sakura wrapped him back up in the towel and set him on her lap, giving a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Miss Yuri." Harry said with a shy smile. Yugiri gave a light giggle and patted his head.

"You're quite welcome, young Harry." She replied. She stood tall and turned to leave the room. "I imagine it would be the best time for bed...Good night, everyone." The eldest idol calmly left.

"She has a point, I'll see you two tomorrow." Ai nodded with a smile as she left the room, leaving the two sitting on the couch.

"They're right, we should get ready for bed." Sakura nodded. "It's been a long day." Harry was about to respond, but a yawn kept him from doing so, Sakura gave a tired smile down at him before realizing a problem. Harry had no decent clothes... She sighed softly at this realization and wondered what she was going to do about this issue. "Well, I guess you're borrowing one of my sweaters until we can get you proper clothes."

Digging through her closet, she found a warm sweater with the Tori Drive-In Logo and Mascot on it. Slipping it over Harry's tiny frame, she couldn't help but giggle as she saw how large it was on him. Even when he stood up, it was still a little bit longer than he was, making it a sort of robe. Picking him up under the armpits she grinned.

"Perfect." She smiled.

Harry smiled happily. "It's really, really soft." He said, funnily enough in a very soft voice. Sakura giggled and kissed his head.

"Yep, it's my favourite sweater for that reason." Setting Harry on the bed, she lifted up the large blanket and set Harry under it. He seemed to happily nestle down, letting the warmth cocoon him. "Would you like to hear a story Harry?" Sakura asked gently.

Harry looked up at her with wide eyes and a big smile. "Story? Really?" He asked excitedly. "What's the story about?" Sakura had to giggle at his enthusiasm.

"Well, this is a story about..." Sakura went quiet, trying to think about what she should tell him. Then she got an idea. "Well, once there was a young girl named Sarri." Sakura began, stroking Harry's hair. "She was a young girl who wanted nothing more than to dance for big audiences, nothing made her happier than when she was dancing." Harry listened intently to Sakura's story. "But...Sarri had very bad luck... It seemed that everything she did was doomed to fail...And...It made her feel very, very sad."

"Oh..." Harry said sadly.

"She never gave up though." Sakura continued. "No matter how hard things got, she never let the fear of failure take over, she knew in her heart that if she kept trying, she'd find her footing." She looked up at the ceiling. "But one day, something happened that was too much, even for her to handle...She had her chance at happiness taken away one too many times, and that was the point where she gave in... She tried to keep smiling, but everywhere she went, it felt like rainclouds were following her. When she smiled, it felt fake, like no matter what she did, nothing could make her happy the way she used to be." Harry looked up at her, feeling a knot in his tummy. This story was hitting close to home. "But Sarri had something that could help her through this mess...Her friends."

"Her friends?" Harry asked, hopefully.

"Yes, along her travels she met several others like her. Her friends had a love of dance as well, and they understood her plight. They practiced together and began to do other things together, spending time, going out to restaurants, they all became inseparable friends. Sarri began to smile again, she felt happy."

Harry's face formed into a huge smile. "Did... Did Sarri get what she wanted? Did she get to make people happy by singing and dancing for them?" Sakura smiled down at Harry.

"Well, she continued doing her best. But no matter how good or bad she did, she knew she had her friends with her, supporting her the entire time. With the love of her friends, which with each day became more and more like family, Sarri knew she could make everyone happy." Harry was happy to hear that everything worked out okay for Sari. He had been feeling sad for her, but now everything was okay. He felt content. "And I hope that like Sarri, you'll find something that makes you happy." Sakura concluded, leaning forward and kissing Harry's forehead.

"But... you make me happy..." Harry mumbled, a bit nervous to admit that, he honestly said it hoping Sakura wouldn't hear it.

But hear it she did, and it brought a huge, warm smile to her face. "Aww... You make me happy too, Harry." She said, engulfing the boy in a hug as she climbed under the covers with him. Sakura yawned, the long day now coming to a close, Sakura rested her chin on Harry's head and pulled him closer to her chest. Harry snuggled in closer.

"Goodnight Harry." Sakura muttered, feeling sleepy herself.

"Goodnight Ma-Miss Sakura." Harry replied halfway asleep. Sakura thought nothing of it, thinking he was just about to mispronounce 'Miss'. Little did she know he had stopped himself from calling her mama...

Harry wanted to caller Miss Sakura Mama, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed. She already fed him, bathed him, cleaned his wounds... He didn't want to push his luck. Still, he was happy with the new living arrangements, and finally, as sleep overtook the duo, there were content smiles on their faces and warm dreams in their minds.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry stirred from his slumber when he felt a hand shaking his shoulders. He woke up to see Mr. Kotaro looking at him. "Harry, I highly advise you cover your ears." He whispered. Harry, confused, obeyed. "TIME TO WAKE UP, SAKURA!" Kotaro banged a huge gong next to Sakura's bed. Sakura bolted upright, screaming in shock. The blankets flew off the bed and scattered themselves around the room as the singer tumbled off of the bed, falling face-first onto the floor with a tremendous THUD! Several pillows which had been launched upwards came back down and landed on her. Sakura emerged from the pile of pillows with a frantic look on her face, looking around wildly before she finally noticed a calm, but confused Harry and Kotaro, standing with a huge grin on his face. "Up and at 'em, sleeping beauty! Time to raise the dead!"

"Really Kotaro!?" Sakura exclaimed, annoyed. "You couldn'tve waited a little bit longer?"

"No." The manager flatly replied with a grin.

"That was loud... but also kinda funny." Harry admitted.

Sakura just rested her chin on the bed with a huff, pouting. "Well, come on now! Today's the day! The big performance at the theater is up and coming, and you need to get one last practice session in beforehand!" Sakura blinked, then her eyes widened. The big performance... right... On the one hand, she was thrilled, she couldn't wait! But now, she had Harry with her... Still. She'd figure this out. "I would be more than happy to play babysitter, if that's what you're worried about." Kotaro said with a small smile. Sakura gave him a surprised glance.

"R..really?" She finally managed to get out. "I never took you as that kind of person..."

"Oh, come now! We watch out for one another!" Kotaro laughed. "Harry is as much one of us as you or I! So, what do you say?"

Sakura smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah!"

"Excellent! Now, you and Harry go wait downstairs. The old gong and I have to go wake the others..." Sakura chuckled and shook her head. Kotaro could be quite strange and sometimes very obnoxious, but at the end of the day, he genuinely cared for her and each of the others, so that was good enough of her. Scooping Harry up and holding him in bother her arms, she began making her way downstairs, Harry was still a little groggy, using one of the oversized sleeves to wipe sleep out of his eyes. Sakura kissed his head and set him down at the table. She pulled out a box of cheerios from the pantry and poured them into a bowl, then poured the milk, then passed it over to Harry.

"Oh, thank you Miss Sakura." Harry said still a bit sleepily.

"You're welcome honey." Sakura smiled, pouring herself a bowl of cereal and sitting down to eat it. She could hear the faint sound of a gong being struck and angered yelling. "Well, Saki's awake now." Sakura said in slight amusement as she heard the former biker screaming at their manager. Harry giggled softly.

"Mr. Kotaro seems nice." Harry said, taking a small spoonful of cereal.

"Well, he can be a little... odd. But he's a very nice man at heart." Sakura stated. "I'm glad to hear you like him, he's going to be watching you later."

Harry looked at her curiously. "Really? Okay, but...where are you going?"

"Oh, there's a big competition at a theater nearby and the girls and I are gonna be a part of it." She patted his head. "You and Kotaro will be watching from backstage."

"So you're all gonna sing?" Harry asked, trying to put it all together.

"Yup." Sakura smiled. Harry smiled back at her.

"I think you'll be really good..." He finally said, bashfully.

Sakura gave him a warm grin. "Aww, thanks, little guy." She cooed. Saki entered the room shortly afterwards, clearly very grumpy from her rude awakening.

"Hi Miss Saki." Harry said with a tiny wave, almost immediately, the agitated ex-biker's face lit up into a small smirk.

"Hey there shortstack. Did you sleep well?" She asked.

Harry nodded his head with a smile. "The bed was really nice and warm..." He said softly. "And Miss Sakura hugged me too..."

"Heh..." Saki chuckled and messed with his hair. "Now that's a mom moment." Sakura smiled into her bowl at the comment, before turning to face her fellow Idol.

"So, you think we're ready for the show tonight?" She asked.

Saki grinned. "Is water wet? C'mon, after we worked our butts off, how can we not kill it out there?"

"K-Kill?!" Harry's eyes widened. "Why do you wanna kill?!"

"Nonononono... not like that." Sakura immediately spoke up to explain it to Harry. "It means we're gonna be the best we can. It's just an expression to say you're giving it your all."

"Oh...okay..." Harry sighed in relief. "I..i..I don't want to see someone die..." Sakura and Saki exchanged a somewhat awkward glance. Then the gong was heard again, followed by Ai's long, continuous screaming.

"If Shades keeps this up that might happen anyways..." Saki muttered under her breath. The other two turning back to their food. One by one, the gong woke up each of the other girls, ending when Tae chased Kotaro downstairs on all fours like a rabid dog due to her anger at being awakened.

"Um, is Miss Tae alright?" Harry asked, a bit confused as to why Tae was running on her hands and feet after their manager, who seemed to be a mixture of laughing and terrified.

"Yes, she's just...like this." Junko explained to Harry. "She hasn't...woken up like the rest of us." Harry was confused.

"But...She's right there..."

"She means Tae hasn't regained her humanity yet." Ai explained. "No memories or anything."

Harry tilted his head in confusion, before finally replying with a small "Huh?" Saki and Sakura looked to one another, trying to find a way to explain this to Harry, eventually the two shrugged.

"We'll try to explain it to you later kid." Saki eventually said. By now, the others had made their way into the kitchen, and Lily was quick to give Harry a hug.

"Hi little bro!" The young zombie said excitedly. "How you feeling today?" Harry tilted his head.

"B-Better..."

"Oh, that's right!" Ai remembered. "Let's take a look at your injuries..." She carefully checked under the sweater. To Ai's shock, most of them were completly gone. There were a few scars left she sadly assumed would never fully heal, but most of his body had healed. Sure he was still far too skinny, but this was a MASSIVE improvement. "Oh wow... Yugiri, your home remedy is incredible..." The black haired zombie breathed. Surprised, Yugiri approached and peeked beneath the sweater.

"I...I feel I cannot take credit for such rapid healing, Lady Ai..." Harry looked down, and then his eyes widened in shock. He had done it again!

"It..it's the freaky stuff..." He mumbled, beginning to squirm in Lily's arms.

"No. No it's not freaky at all." Sakura said as she took the boy back from Lily. "It's not freaky. It's a miracle!"

"Re..really?" Harry asked in awe. "But..but I always got hurt whenever I accidentally used it..."

"That's because you were living with terrible, evil people." Sakura explained.

"Right... they were bad..." Harry finally said, nodding in agreement. Sakura hated seeing Harry in this condition, she didn't even know the whole story, but if they could begin to get him to believe he wasn't a freak, then that was something.

She watched him finish his breakfast, then picked him up and cuddled him against her bosom. "Now why don't you come watch us practice?"

"Um. I don't want to get in your way..." He mumbled.

"Nonsense! We'd love to have you! Right girls?" Sakura asked chipperly. The others were still waking up but did their best to smile over at Harry, Tae managing to give a moan in agreement.

Harry hesitated before finally nodding his head. "Okay... I'll come watch you dance..." And so Harry found himself sitting on the side of the room, watching the seven idols do their thing. His eyes were huge with wonder, and Sakura felt like her heart was going to burst. She saw nothing but pure adoration in his emerald eyes, as the idols rehearsed song after song, Harry remained silent and still as a statue, watching them practice.

When they stopped their dance routine, Harry clapped his tiny hands together with a big, beaming smile and Saki grinned. "Reminds me of that girl that watched us at the park, eh?"

"Oh yeah." Ai mused. "Man, we really seem to be popular with kids, don't we?" Saki rolled her eyes and chuckled at her friend's remark.

"Well, either way, we're all set for that big show tonight!" She rose her fist in the air. "YEAH!" Tae threw her fist up and roared, imitating her leader.

"Yay." Harry said quietly, imitating Saki.

"Alright girls! We're gonna be FABULOUS tonight!" Kotaro declared. "This is gonna be our best show yet!"

"You say that every show." Sakura remarked.

"And each show is better than the last!" The girls smiled at this. They knew they were ever improving, but hearing it from their manager made it fully click that they were getting better by the day.

"So, the concert isn't until tonight... what are we gonna do till then?" Lily finally asked. The others looked to one another, as if quietly asking each other for a suggestion.

"We could put on our makeup and go hit the town." Saki said with a grin.

"Oh yeah! Harry still needs some new clothes..."

"I..I do?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Of course silly! You can't wear that sweater everywhere!" Sakura laughed.

"But... I like this sweater..."

"Well, you can still wear it, but you need to have other options. Come on, let's go and buy you some cute little outfits, okay?"

"Okay." Harry said, being picked up by Sakura. "I'll work hard to pay you back..."

"No honey, you don't need to do that." Sakura shook her head, a bit sadly. "All little boys need clothes."

"Okay..." Harry mumbled softly as he snuggled in close.

"Ooh! We GOTTA get him some cute pajamas!" Exclaimed Lily. "A little onsie so we can stay up late at night and have fun, some casual clothes for when we go to Tori's..."

"Lily can be quite excitable, can't she?" Junko asked with a smirk, seeing the youngest member continue to rattle off a long list.

"Yes, she can." Yugiri nodded. "But I think it will have a positive effect on young Harry in the long run."

Sakura giggled and put a hand over the youngest idol's mouth. "We'll do that, Lily, but settle down for now, okay?" Lily pouted but nodded her head.

Soon, the girls had all donned their makeup, making them seem like regular people to the outside world, and they piled into their van and drove off towards town. As they drove, Junko looked over to Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura?" She asked. "Would it be okay if I held him?" Sakura blinked, then gave the white haired girl a smile. She looked down at Harry, who hesitated before nodding, and she handed the boy over. "Hi there little guy." Junko said in a sweet tone. "My, are you adorable?"

"Um, thank you Miss Junko." Harry finally replied. "Y..you're really pretty..."

Junko's face turned red at that comment. "Oh, thank you..." She said with a smile. "I like to think so as well..."

"Well, I think you are." Harry replied, giving the girl a hug, Junko hugged Harry back and kissed the top of his tiny head.

"Thank you dear." She grinned.

The rest of the drive was spent in a comfortable silence. Junko found herself enjoying holding Harry. He was like a little teddy bear. Harry found the white-haired woman to be very comfortable, and there was a very calming presence about her. He liked her, he still liked Miss Sakura best, but Miss Junko was a very nice lady as well. He liked all of them... They were all so nice to him... He felt he didn't fully deserve to be around them... But he was so glad he was. Sakura loved seeing Harry so happy, and she felt confident that her friends would be there to help her and him with whatever life threw their way. To Sakura, the others weren't her friends, they were her (and Harry's) family.


	4. Chapter 4

The van pulled into the parking lot of the mall. "All right, everybody get your rotting butts out of this van and into that building!" Kotaro exclaimed.

Sakura snatched Harry from Junko's arms, and carried him lovingly into the large mall. Harry's eyes were full of childish wonder as he looked around the mall. "It's so big..." He said with wide eyes. Sakura giggled and nodded her head.

"The biggest in the country~!" She sang.

"Wow... what's in here?" Harry asked.

"All kinds of stores, plenty of places to get you some new clothes." Sakura answered. Harry smiled softly at that idea, and Sakura carried him towards the closest clothing store she could find. Walking through the isles, Sakura held Harry in one arm at her hip, she began picking up clothes and holding them up to Harry, as if inspecting them. "What do you think of these, Harry?" She asked. Harry looked at the blue footie pajamas and smiled softly.

"They look comfy." Continuing with their shopping, Sakura picked up a number of outfits for Harry, ranging from t-shirts and shorts, to a small sweater similar to hers. She had Harry try on many different outfits, and she thought he looked adorable in all of them.

She bought the clothes and had the boy get changed in one of the washrooms. When he came out, she smiled warmly. "Aww, how handsome." She cooed.

"Thank you Miss Sakura..." Harry blushed, looking down sheepishly, being gently hugged by Sakura once again.

"Not to worry hon." She grinned, kissing his cheek. She picked him up and carried him off, going to find the others. She found them in the food court.

As expected, Lily was the first to react when she saw Harry wearing some of his new clothes. "AWWW! He's so cute!" She squealed, her eyes going comically wide as Harry buried his face into Sakura's shoulder, embarrassed.

Saki snickered. "Man, he is way deep in that shell, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but it's cute how shy he is." Sakura replied with a smile. As the group enjoyed their food, Sakura fed Harry some dragon rolls, the singer couldn't help but smile as she saw some colour returning to the boy's face. He had a bit of a road to go until he was back to normal, but any progress made her happy. She looked at his tiny frame and frowned sadly. She really hoped he got some meat on his bones soon... His malnourished state really worried her.

"This tastes really good Miss Sakura." Harry said, taking another bite of the sushi. "What is this?"

"It's called a dragon roll, there's shrimp, cucumber and something else in here." Sakura replied, picking up another piece with the chopsticks. "Do you want to try the chopsticks?"

Harry looked at the two sticks curiously. "Oh...Um...Okay..." He took the two small sticks and looked at them with a frown. "Um... How do they work?"

"Well, you hold them like this..." Sakura demonstrated, playing Harry's fingers around the two wooden sticks. "...and then you pick up food like this..." Continuing with her demonstration, she gently lifted Harry's hand up. Harry paid close attention as Sakura gently helped him use the chopsticks to grab his food. He stared at them for a moment, making sure he got it, then carefully put it in his mouth. "Yay! There you go!" Sakura playfully cheered. Harry looked up with a smile at Sakura, and tried to pick up a second piece. It took a couple tries, but he eventually got it all on his own. "All right! Go, Harry!" Sakura cheered happily. The others smiled over at the two, Ai leaned over to Saki, quietly asking.

"So has he said it yet?"

"Said what?" Saki replied, a bit confused.

"Y'know... mom."

Saki shrugged. "Heck if I know, ask Sakura." She replied. Sakura was a bit busy being a mom at that point however.

"They look so happy." Junko mused with a smile.

"Indeed, Lady Sakura seems to be the ideal caregiver for Young Harry." Yugiri nodded.

"I hope Harry enjoys the show tonight!" Lily added.

"Oh, you bet your butt he will!" Saki said with a grin. "After all the effort we put into it, who wouldn't love it?"

"Youtube commenters." Lily replied.

"Yeah, but what DO they like?" Saki grumbled, not too happy with some of the... "suggestions" left on their most recent music video on how to "improve" it.

"Cats." Ai shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

"I like cats too..." Junko said with a small smile. That got Harry's attention, as he looked over with an excited expression.

"Kitties? I like kitties!"

"Oh you do, do you?" The singer asked.

"Yes. Sometimes I got to stay with Miss Figg, and she had some kitties... they were nice."

Junko smiled. "That sounds lovely. Were they soft?"

"Yeah, they were fluffy and liked to pile on me, but they were really nice."

Junko smiled softly. "So cute..." She said. "I used to have a cat... I just hope she was able to find a good home after I passed away..." Harry smiled sadly over at the idol, then reached out to her, as if offering a comforting hug. Junko smiled and took the hug. "Aww...Thank you, Harry...You're such a sweetie..." Harry didn't know what to say, so he simply smiled into the hug.

"I got his some clothes, what else does he need?" Sakura asked, looking to the others for advice.

"Uh...Probably a toothbrush." Saki reasoned. "And a couple toys could be good for the little guy."

"And maybe a blanket." Ai added. "He may need his own bed eventually, or it'd just be good to have something to keep him warm at night." Sakura nodded, thinking over what else they should get.

"I think that should do it." The redhead concluded. "Okay! Let's finish up our food and shop!" Sakura spent the next two hours were spent going store-to-store with Harry held comfortably at her side. She purchased a few small toys, a nice blue blanket, a red toothbrush [his pick], and some children's toothpaste. As they wandered the store, Harry saw a poster...

"Miss Sakura! It's you!" Sakura turned and grinned when she saw a large poster in a store window of her and her other bandmates. Walking over, she held Harry up so he could get a better look at it.

"Yup!" She giggled. "This is what me and the others were practicing for this morning!"

Harry smiled brightly. "Are there gonna be a lot of people there to watch you?" He asked, prompting Sakura to nod her head.

"Oh yeah, totally!"

"I think you'll be really good."

"Aw, thanks Harry!" Sakura looked down at the bags in her hand and smiled warmly. "Well, this should do for now, okay, Harry?"

"You didn't have to buy all this stuff for me..." He said, feeling guilty, but he couldn't explain why.

Sakura nodded. "I know I didn't HAVE to. But I did it anyway. Wanna know why?" Harry tilted his head curiously. "It's because I wanted to!"

"But why did you want to?" Harry asked, still confused.

"Because I care for you. No matter what anyone says, you're a wonderful little boy, and you didn't deserve the abuse you suffered." Sakura replied.

Harry blinked. "I...I... Okay..." He said softly, feeling very unsure about it. Sakura smiled sadly and hugged him closer to her bosom, kissing his cheek. "Thank you Miss Sakura, thank you for being nice to me."

"And thank you sweetie, thank you for bringing is much happiness to my life." Sakura replied. It was at that moment that a huge group of Franchouchou fans noticed Sakura standing with the boy in her arms.

"Number 1 has a child?!" One exclaimed.

"But how!?" Another exclaimed.

"Maybe it's her brother!"

"Awww! He's so cute!"

Sakura tensed up when she saw the fans were now crowding her. "Uh...Hi, guys! Um...What's up?!" She asked, sweating slightly.

"Who's the kid?" Was the first question asked.

"Is he your brother?" Was the second question asked.

Sakura looked at Harry. "Um...Yes, my brother. He's recently adopted." She explained, deciding to bluff a little bit to avoid any troubles.

"He's so cute! What's his name?" A female fan asked, bending down and waving at Harry, who shyly waved back.

"His name is Harry. Don't crowd, guys. He's super shy. He's been through a lot. Just a few steps back, okay?" Slowly but surely, the fans took a few steps back, all still seeming to be practically bursting with questions. "Um...So, uh...Yeah, he's...staying with us for the time being. He was found on the street and me and the girls ended up taking him in and he imprinted on me most."

"That's so kind of you!" One of the female fans squealed.

"Is he going to be going you on tours?" Another asked.

"Where's his family?" A third asked.

"Um... In order, thank you, probably, and he uh...would rather keep his family problems secret." To confirm her point, Harry nodded his head. The fans all mumbled, seeing to understand and agree. As Sakura continued to answer questions, Harry began to feel a little ill at ease with so many people surrounding them. Sakura noticed when the boy let out a small whimper. She looked down at him, seeing the fear in his eyes and knew it was time to go. "Well, it's been great meeting you all, but I need to be on my way. Practice and all." She said chipperly. The fans looked briefly disappointed, but understanding, and Sakura knew they'd be tied over when they noticed Saki checking out the video games.

"Hey! It's number two!" One of the fans exclaimed, and the group seemed to migrate towards Saki, who didn't notice they were there until she was surrounded. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone. She walked away with Harry, deciding to go and wait outside with him. She wasn't surprised to find Junko was out there as well.

"Ah, how'd the shopping go?" Junko asked calmly, glancing over at the two approaching the van.

"Good. Until we got swarmed by fans..." Sakura sighed.

Junko winced in sympathy. "Yes, the fans can be somewhat difficult at times..." She agreed, still not over that one time she had been swarmed by fans. She'd cried.

"There was a lot of people... it was kinda scary..." Harry mumbled.

Junko gave the boy a smile and nod. "Yes, my thoughts exactly, Harry." Sakura sighed contently as she sat on a. bench, looking up at the bright blue sky. The clouds were slowly rolling above them, everything seemed so calm. Sakura could get used to this.

Harry looked up too, staring at the sky curiously. "Oh!" He pointed upward with a smile. "I found a cloud that looks like a hippopotamus!" Sakura laughed at his enthusiasm and looked up, finally seeing one that looked like a giraffe.

"And there's a giraffe!" She pointed. Harry's face seemed to light up when he finally saw it.

"I see it!" He exclaimed.

Junko looked up as well, and found a cloud shape that made her smile softly. "Oh, and there's one that looks like a kitten."

"And there's one that looks like Romero!" Harry added, pointing to a puppy-shaped cloud. The trio continued their little cloudspotting game until the other girls stepped out of the store.

"As much as this may be the greatest job ever... the fans can be a litlle... persistent..." Saki grumbled as she left the mall.

Lily giggled. "I liked meeting the fans! I got to sign autographs!" She said excitedly.

"Well, it's nice to know people enjoy our music at least." Ai nodded in agreement. Yugiri smiled and nodded in agreement, and Tae was looking up at the sky, trying to figure out what Harry was looking at.

"It's nice to see them so relaxed." Saki said, motioning to the happy duo.

"Yes, especially after how terrified little Harry was when he arrived, it's good to see him smile." Yugiri replied with a warm tone. The group had to leave shortly afterward, unfortunately, so their cloud gazing was over. Harry sat comfortably on Sakura's lap as the van drove back to their house. One of their songs had come on the radio and Harry seemed to be swaying to the music.

Sakura giggled softly and patted the boy's head. "You like it? This is Saki's song." The redhead cooed softly. Harry smiled.

"Your song rocks, Miss Saki!"

'Why is everything this kid does so adorable?!' Saki mentally asked before replying. "Thanks kid. I know a lot of people like it, but it's special to me that YOU like it." She messed with his hair a little playfully.

Harry giggled at the playful gesture. "Well now, ladies!" Kotaro exclaimed. "I hope you're all ready for tonight, because it's going to be your most important show ever!"

"It's gonna be AWESOME!" Lily cheered. "We're gonna show everyone how it's done!"

"That's the spirit Lily! The others could learn a thing or two from you..." Kotaro remarked smugly.

The other girls either snorted or pouted. Harry, on the other hand, raised a hand in the air and cheered. "Yaaaaaay!" This made everyone present (except Lily, because she already was) beam brightly at the young boy's enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit, kiddo! YAAAAAAAY! EVERYBODY CHEER LIKE ME AND HARRY! LET YOUR ENTHUSIASM BE HEARD, COME ON!" While there were smiles, there wasn't any cheering. There were a few calm, somewhat uninterested 'Yay' but overall everyone seemed fine not screaming like monkeys. "C'mon, really?" Kotaro groaned.

Sakura shrugged. "Have to save our voices for the big show, don't we?" Kotaro blinked and turned to look at her.

"Good call. Not another word until the show!"

"No."

"Fair enough!" Harry laughed slightly at the interactions between everyone, and Sakura took a moment to breathe. It had only been about a day since she had found Harry, yet it felt like weeks. Not that she was complaining, she'd take every second she could get with him. She rested her chin on his head and smiled warmly, facing forward and enjoying the light feeling of the boy's weight on her lap.

"Miss Sakura, how do you come up with the songs you sing?" Harry asked after a few minutes of silence.

Sakura looked thoughtful. "Well, they're kinda based on things that have happened to us. Like, I could probably write a song about meeting you."

"Really?!" Harry said, his eyes sparkling. "You could? Could... could I write one about meeting you?"

Sakura giggled. "Sure, if you really want to, you could totally do that!"

"Okay. I'll try." Harry nodded, then began thinking to himself, he didn't see the massive grin Sakura had on her face. "Um... Miss Sakura is super nice... She...doesn't have any lice... She give me lots of hugs... and um...drinks juice out of...jugs." He decided to quit while he was ahead. The next thing he knew, he was being given a crushing hug by the singer, who pressed her lips against his head repetitively.

"You're just...too...CUTE!" She gushed, nuzzling the top of his head.

"Th..thank you..." Harry replied, giggling somewhat at the kind words.


	5. Chapter 5

The van pulled up into the theatre's parking lot, and the girls stepped out, ready for their big performance. "Alright Harry, you'll be staying with Mr. Kotaro for a little bit. But don't worry, you'll be able to see us the entire time." Sakura said reassuringly, stroking Harry's cheek.

Kotaro nodded. "Indeed, we'll be watching from backstage! And it. Will. Be. GLORIOUS." Harry winced at Kotaro's loud shouting, but smiled nonetheless. He understood that unlike when his Uncle yelled, Kotaro yelled in a fun way.

Sakura gave Harry a quick hug. "Be good for Mr. Kotaro, okay, Harry?"

"Okay Miss Sakura!" He smiled up at her, giving a tiny wave to her and the other idols as they walked towards their dressing room.

Kotaro and Harry stood in awkward silence. "So...Read any good books lately?" Kotaro asked.

"Um.. I.. I don't know how to read..." Harry muttered, embarrassed.

"Oh. Huh. Watch any good movies then?"

"We watched a movie about toys before we came here... I liked it."

"Oh. That's good." Kotaro nodded. The two sat in an awkward silence until Harry spoke up again.

"Mr. Kotaro?" He asked.

Kotaro blinked and looked at the boy. "Yes?"

"How did you meet Miss Sakura and the others?" Harry asked curiously.

Kotaro led Harry backstage. "Well, m'boy, Sakura was a good friend of mine in my highschool days. But then she passed on...Without fulfilling her dream of becoming a famous idol. So I brought her back, along with the other girls to be her co-idols!" Harry seemed confused, then his eyes widened as he realized something Kotaro had said.

"You brought them back to life?!"

Kotaro nodded. "Yes."

"But...But how?"

"Yes." Harry frowned, but didn't say anything. Simply looking around the large theatre. The two reached backstage, and sat down, watching the monitor. The first contestant in the show was a teenage boy playing piano. He was singing 'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John.

"...Mr. Kotaro? Do you think I'm a freak?" Silence.

"Yes." Harry winced. "And I'm a freak. And the girls are freaks. And the boy playing the piano is a freak. And the audience? Just a bunch of freaks. And all those people you ran into on the street? They're freaks too." Kotaro looked at Harry. "Everyone is a freak. And that is a good thing. If we were normal, we'd be boring. But our freakiness is what makes us stand out as individuals. Don't fear the fact that you're a freak. Embrace it like the rest of us!"

Harry was deeply considering these words... "So, what makes me a freak... makes me normal?" Harry asked.

"Damn right kid." Kotaro nodded with a smile. "Now listen, I don't mean to pry into something that ain't my business, but whatever happened with your family. Whatever they told you, they were dead wrong. You may be a freak, but that makes you special, that's what makes you..."

"Me?" Harry asked.

"Exactly!"

Harry smiled slightly. "I think I get it...Thank you, Mr. Kotaro..." Kotaro ruffled Harry's hair.

"Don't mention it kid." He smirked kindly. "The world can be a strange place, sometimes all you need are the right people."

"Like Miss Sakura!" Harry piped up happily. Kotaro smirked.

"Wow, you really seem to like Miss Sakura, huh?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "She's really nice. She gives me hugs... and feeds me, and she doesn't hurt me..."

"Really now?" Kotaro put a finger under his chin and gave the boy a toothy grin, "Would you say she's...motherly towards you then?"

"I guess?" Harry replied, unsure. "I don't know what a mommy is like..."

Kotaro smirked. "A mommy, as you put it, does many of the things Sakura does for you. She takes care of you, she feeds you, she helps you feel better when you're in pain..." Harry's eyes widened slightly. Was Miss Sakura his mommy? He loved her with all his heart... but she was too kind to him. She wouldn't want to be his mommy... He thought about it, and decided he would ask her later that night. Then, after a rather short man finished singing 'My Way', the girls came onstage. "Well, they're up!" Kotaro smirked, patting Harry's back. "Let's see how they do!" Harry watched the girls' performance intently, and once again found himself swaying back and forth to the music.

"They're so good!" Harry breathed. He had heard. Sakura and the others sing earlier, but now as he saw how it all came together on stage it was magical in a sense.

Kotaro smirked. "Well of course they're good. They only have the world's greatest manager, after all." He said with complete confidence.

"Oh. That makes a difference?" Harry asked innocently.

Kotaro sweatdropped. "Well, erm...no...not really..." He sulked.

"I thought it did. Miss Saki and Miss Sakura talked about how much you helped them."

"Yes, but it is their own efforts that help them to improve. I won't take the credit for the girls' hard work." Kotaro explained. Harry nodded, seeming to understand before looking back up at the big screen above them, showing the idols mid-performance. When the performance finished, Harry cheered and clapped, only to blush when he remembered that they couldn't hear him.

"They were amazing!" He cheered.

"I gotta admit, they've really gotten better." Kotaro nodded. "Just uh, don't tell them I said that."

"Aww, thanks, Shades, you're too kind." Kotaro groaned at the sound of Saki's voice as all seven girls stepped into the room, Sakura grinning ear to ear as she picked up Harry.

"So Harry, what did you think?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"You were amazing!" Harry exclaimed happily, trying to hug Sakura.

Sakura nodded her head with a big smile. "Thanks, sweetie! We're the last act, so they'll be announcing the winner in about ten minutes." The other idols sighed in relief, feeling relieved that their major performance was not only over, but went as well as it had.

"Hey little guy." Ai said, bending down slightly to be at Harry's eye level. "Glad to see you thought we did well."

Harry beamed at her. "You're gonna win! You were super good!" He said with the utmost confidence and conviction that made a grin come to Saki's face.

"Oh, you know it, little man!" Sakura hadn't felt this happy in ages. She didn't care if they won or list (well, maybe she did care a little bit...) but seeing Harry and her friends so happy gave her a sense of warmth she hand't felt even when she was alive. The group went out to stage. The top three winners would earn a cash prize, so as long as they made the top 3, they were guranteed to walk away with something... Third place went to a punk teenage girl who played an original song on guitar, and she won 420 025 yen...

"And in second place, winning 840,050 yen...FRANCHOUCHOU!" "Yay!" Harry was happily cheering form backstage with Kotaro as they saw the girls accept the prize and smile and wave. The teen on the piano was ultimately the winner, but it wasn't about the prizes. It was about getting the Franchouchou name out into the public eye. As the girls walked backstage, there was a celebratory air to the way they walked, a feeling of pride surrounding them.

"Hell yeah, we actually cracked the top three this time!" Saki cheered with a fist pump, Tae imitating her. "Nowhere left to go but up, ladies!"

"I think you were the best." Harry said, looking up from where he was sitting.

"Awww that means a lot Harry!" Saki smiled, giving him a hug, only for Sakura to hug the two of them.

Sakura giggled and took Harry into her arms. "Thanks, Harry, that's really sweet of you to say." She cooed. Harry smiled happily at that.

"Well, you're really nice to me... and I wanna be nice to you." Harry sheepishly replied.

"Aww..." Sakura cooed.

The group decided to get Drive-In Tori for dinner that night. Harry ended up being passed around to all the different zombies as they drove over to the restaurant, each of the idols hugged Harry, enjoying his warm embrace, until he eventually nodded off in Yugiri's arms, peacefully breathing. Yugiri gave the boy a small smile before passing him back over to Sakura, who took him gratefully and rocked him back and forth. "He had a big day..."

"Hey, so did we!" Lily reasoned.

"Yes, but he's a small boy." Yugiri explained. "This was all more than he's probably used to."

Lily pouted slightly, but accepted the answer. Saki put a hand to her mouth and snickered. "Eat some of your chicken, Shrimpy. Oh yeah...You should probably feed the kid, Sakura. He needs all the food he can get." Gently shaking Harry to wake him up, Sakura held some of the chicken up so he could smell it.

"Harry, dinner time." She said quietly, so not to startle him awake.

"Mm... mama?" He murmured in his sleep.

Sakura giggled and kissed his head. "It's me, Harry...Miss Sakura..." She cooed, not thinking much of it due to Harry saying it while mostly asleep.

Harry tiredly opened his mouth and seemed to happily eat the Tori, waking up as he chewed. "Mmm... Mr. Drive-In Tori makes...really good chicken..." He mumbled tiredly, opening his mouth for another bite with a soft "Aaaah..."

"It's great to know we all love Drive-In Tori." Junko said, a mouthful of chicken. "It'll make for some easy nights."

Saki grinned widely. "Never a wrong time to eat greasy fast food chicken, am I right or am I right?"

"You're right." Harry nodded, still eating some chicken.

Saki grinned. "Well, the kid says I'm right, so any arguments you have are invalid." She said, patting Harry's head affectionately, causing a sleepy smile.

"I don't think you'll find many arguments towards Tori's food." Lily stated matter-of-factly.

"Agreed." Ai nodded.

"All right, ladies and gentleman, we are home at last! Unbuckle, get inside and go about your normal zombie schedules for the night!" Sakura felt something pulling on her sleeve, looking down she saw Harry with a puzzled look on his face.

"What is it Harry?" She asked.

"What's a zombie schedule?" Harry asked.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, there's no zombie schedule. It's just Mr. Kotaro being a big goofball as usual." She explained with a smile.

"Oh. So... what do you wanna do now?" Harry asked, there was still a noticable amount of timidness in his voice, but he was somewhat coming out of his shell. Then the boy yawned again, and Sakura smiled softly. "Well, right now I think we should be putting you to sleep." She cooed. Harry nodded his head.

"M'kay." He cuddled into Sakura's chest and rested his head against her neck. Sakura adjusted him in her arms to make sure he was comfortable and carried him into her room. She gently tucked him into bed and handed him the teddy bear from the night prior. "Um... Miss Sakura...?" Sakura tilted her head. "Can...Can I call you mama...?" Sakura froze, if she could, she knew she'd feel her blood run cold and her heart skin several beats. She looked down wide-eyed at Harry, who now looked away, frightened.

"C..could you repeat that please?" She finally asked.

Harry covered his eyes with his tiny hands and whimpered softly. "I...I wanna call you mama...Please? Can I...?" Harry was afraid he was about to be hit, or thrown back not the street, he knew he had messed up... But he was surprised when the hits never came, rather, a loving kiss was planted on his head, and then another, and another...

Sakura hugged the boy tightly, running her fingers through his hair. "Yes, Harry...It's okay if you call me mama. I don't mind at all..." She said softly.

"M..mama..." Harry finally got out. Then, tears of joy began to flow, Sakura didn't need to be asked, she scooped Harry up and hugged him close to her chest.

"That's right, Mama's gotcha." Sakura smiled, rocking Harry back and forth. "And Mama's gonna keep you safe."

"I love you mommy." Harry said, leaning into the hug.

Sakura began to tear up slightly. "Aww...I love you too, Harry..." She cooed, resting her cheek on his head as she held him in her arms gently. They sat comfortable in the bed, Harry felt a sense of protection he had longed for his entire life. Miss Sakura was too kind to him. She cared for him, she loved him. And he loved her right back. He snuggled into the zombies chest and closed his eyes, letting out a cute yawn that got a smile out of Sakura. "Go to sleep, Harry...Mama's here..."

"Good night mama." Harry mumbled, curling up in his mothers arms. Sakura lay back on her bed, listening to Harry's peaceful breathing as he had dropped off to sleep. She felt like Lily right now. If her heart was still functioning, it would be beating out of her chest. This boy was just too precious for his own good... Harry then let out a tiny yawn in his sleep and turned over, beginning to suck his thumb in his sleep. 'TOO. CUTE!.' Sakura was screaming hin her mind. Giggling softly, the zombie closed her eyes. 'I thought I'd lost my chance to be a mom...Now I am one...' She thought as she drifted off to slumber. As the two slept peacefully, Harry wrapped up in Sakura's arms, the usual nightmares Harry dreaded never came, just a feeling of love, and as for Sakura, she slept happily, her son held close in a blissful slumber.


	6. Chapter 6

Sakura groaned as the first rays of sunshine poured in through the window. "Nooo...Turn it off..." She groaned softly to herself, fidgeting. She began to sit upwards, but paused when she felt something was off... looking down, her sleepy eyes shot open in terror as she realized Harry wasn't with her. "Oh...Wait...I guess he just woke up..." She smelled something cooking. "Mmm...Smells like Ai is cooking again..." She made her way downstairs. Sure enough, Ai was cooking...with Harry helping.

"...and then you add the eggs now." Ai was instructing Harry as the two worked on what looked to be a rather sizeable meal. Ai (thankfully) was guiding Harry the whole way through, doing her best to keep him safe. Sakura gave a small sigh of relief and smiled softly at the scene before her. Seemed that her little boy was interested in cooking. That was something she'd have to keep in mind...

"Morning Harry, morning Ai." She said as cheerfully as she could, entering the kitchen.

Ai turned to Sakura with a huge smile. "Morning, Sakura. Harry was really happy when he came down this morning. Any reason why that is?"

"Miss Sakura said I could call her mama!" Harry said happily, Ai's eyes going comically wide as her jaw hit the ground.

Sakura rubbed the back of her head with a smile. "I know I'm still technically just a teenager... But when am I ever gonna get another chance to be a mom?"

"I...i...i..." Ai stammered, still processing the news. "I think it's GREAT!" she said with a huge grin.

Sakura's grin turned even wider. "I know, right?! I'm an idol and a mom! I'm living the dream right now!" The redhead said joyfully.

"I'm living a dream too." Harry added quietly. "But I'm glad that this is real..."

Sakura walked over to hug the boy. "Me too, sweetie...Me too..." She broke the hug and looked at the cooking meal. "So, you like cooking?"

"Well... Uncle Vernon said I had to... but I liked it, so I didn't mind. Except when I got burned... that felt bad."

Sakura frowned. "Aww, Harry... You're way too little to be cooking by yourself..." She cooed, hugging the boy tightly. "Never cook without someone helping you, okay?"

"Does Miss Ai count?" Harry asked hopefully. Sakura laughed and kissed his nose.

"Of course." She nodded.

"Yay!" Harry cheered happily.

Ai smirked lightly. "All right, little master chef, let's keep our focus on the food for now. Don't want the eggs to cook for too long, now, do we?"

"Yes Miss Ai!" Harry replied as Sakura set him back on the stool.

Sakura took a seat at the table nearby, deciding to watch the pair cooking breakfast. Then a thought came to her head. "Hey Ai! How does Auntie Ai sound to you?" Ai sputtered for a moment, making Sakura laugh. It was bizarre seeing Ai so off-guard. "Y..are you joking?!" She finally managed to get out.

"Well, if I'm his mama, what does that make all of you?" Sakura asked playfully.

"I'd like to call you Auntie Ai, if it's okay with you." Harry finally said.

Ai blinked as she looked at the boy, then gave a small smile. "Okay then... Sure. Auntie Ai it is." She said, ruffling the boy's hair gently.

"Yay!" Harry cheered happily, reaching out, asking for a hug. Ai smiled and picked him up, noticing he seemed to have pancake batter on him.

Sakura smiled as she watched Ai clean him off with a hand cloth. "There's a good auntie." Ai smirked at her and simply shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Heh, I never pictured myself as 'aunt' material, but then again, I never really pictured myself as a zombie either... weird how things work out." Sakura nodded in agreement, their lives were undeniably strange, but she was just fine with that. "Well, if you can balance being a mother and an idol, I'm pretty sure I can balance being an aunt and an idol." Ai smirked over to Sakura. "Are the others up yet? The food won't be ready for a bit more but still, you know how they can be when they smell breakfast."

As if on cue, Tae rushed into the room on all fours, sniffing at the air to find the source of the delicious smell. "Hi, auntie Tae!" Harry said. Tae looked at him and let out a grunt of acknowledgement before giving his head an affectionate nibble. Harry giggled at the contact and leaned into Tae's odd affection, the zombie patted his head like she had seen the others do. It was a bit rough, but Harry understood what Tae was getting at.

Saki entered the room shortly afterwards, yawning slightly. "Hey, breakfast cooking. Nice." She said tiredly.

"Hi, auntie Saki!" Saki paused, semming taken aback, looking to Sakura, Ai, and even Tae, then simply shrugged.

"Hey little bud." She said giving Harry a friendly wave. "Sleep well?"

Harry's face broke into a big smile. He'd called Miss Saki Auntie Saki and she hadn't even gotten mad at him! "Yes, I slept really good!" He said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Sakura kept you company, huh?" The ex-biker commented.

"Yeah, Mama's really cozy!"

Saki blinked at that, then grinned broadly. "Ooh, mama, huh?" She asked, leaning in closer. "So ya called her mama. Heh... Happened sooner than I thought." Sakura blushed but smiled nonetheless.

"Well, I'm happy, whenever it happened I would've been happy, so needless to say, I'm pretty happy now."

"Me too!" Harry chipped in, raising his tiny arms in the air. Then Junko walked into the room, yawning softly. "Hi, auntie Junko!" Harry greeted eagerly.

"Why hello Harry!" Junko answered happily, a close-eyed smile on her face, then seemed to realize what she had been called. "Oh... auntie Junko? Well, I'm... I'm flattered!" She patted the boy's head with a smile. Then she gave Sakura a smile. "Sakura, if he's calling me auntie, does that mean..." Sakura nodded, knowing what she was about to say.

"Yup! I'm his mama now!" Sakura declared with a proud tone in her voice.

Junko let out a soft squeal of delight. "That's just the cutest thing I've ever heard...!" She gushed softly. "You'll be an excellent mother, Sakura."

"Aw, thanks Junko!" Sakura said, hugging her friend. "I wanna make Harry happy!"

Yugiri walked in next, smiling when she saw that everyone seemed to be in high spirits. However, before she could say good morning... "Hi, auntie Yugiri!" The collected zombie donned a wide smile as she walked over and kissed his forehead.

"Hello little one." She said warmly. "I'm surprised you would call me that."

"Well, Miss Sakura's my mommy..." Harry tried to explain.

Yugiri blinked, then hid her smile behind her hand. "Oh? Is she now?" She asked mirthfully, an eyebrow raised. Harry nodded his head eagerly. "Well, if that is the case, I imagine Lady Lily would prefer big sister over auntie." As if on cue, Lily skidded into the room.

"Is food read-Oh hi Harry!" She began but cut herself off as she hugged Harry once again. "What's everyone talking about?"

Sakura smiled and patted the younger idol's head. "Well, Lily, Harry called me mommy, the rest of the girls are aunts, and I figured you'd like to be called his big sister."

"Really?! YAY!" Lily cheered, a bit louder than people were expecting as she hugged Harry tightly. Harry was frightened by Lily's scream but tried to hug her nonetheless.

"Um...Hi, big sister Lily..." He said softly. Lily responded with a huge smile that practically threatened to tear her face apart at the very seams.

"You're just so adorableee!" She squealed, nuzzling his cheek lovingly while the others smiled at the interaction.

Harry found himself giggling softly at the affectionate displays, until he remembered the cooking. "Um...Big Sister Lily...? I have to help Auntie Ai cook, okay?"

"Aww... okay." Lily sighed overdramaticly as she set him back on the stool, and the two retuned to making breakfast.

The rest of Franchouchou sat around the table, having a discussion. "So I'm pretty sure Shades is off getting our next gig ready." Saki said.

"Already?!" Sakura exclaimed, surprised. "We just had one!

"Welcome to the word of show business." Lily shrugged "if we wanna stay popular, we gotta keep performing."

Sakura smiled. "Well, I can't complain. The more performances we get, the more smiling faces we'll get!"

"True that." Saki nodded, then smiled as Ai and Harry began bringing trays of food over. "This looks great!"

Ai nodded her head. "Yeah, believe it or not, Harry's quite the little chef. He taught me a couple interesting combinations that just might work." As the girls began eating, they were taken aback by the flavour of everything.

"Harry... this is DELECIOUS!" Sakura decalered energetically.

Ai nodded her head. "Mm-hmm...Much better than anything I've put together on my own." She patted Harry's head. "We have a master chef in the making."

Harry looked away, blushing from all the praise he was getting, and finally got out "W..well, Auntie Ai helped..."

Ai shrugged her shoulders. ."Hey, your recipes, Harry. You get a bigger portion of the credit than I do." She ruffled the boy's hair with a smile. As the girls all ate, Sakura frowned when she noticed Harry wasn't eating, in fact, he seemed to be looking away while they ate.

"Harry, don't you want some?" She asked kindly.

Harry looked at her somewhat nervously. "Um...I'm...I'm usually not allowed to eat the stuff I make...I get in a lot of trouble if I do..." He said softly. All the girls seemed either shocked or hurt by that, and while they wanted to ask why, they had an assumption why, and it was clear he didn't want to talk about it.

Sakura decided to deal with the problem, and she reached over and grabbed Harry's fork. "Open wide, Harry." She said gently, ready to feed the boy. Harry seemed conflicted, but nonetheless he opened wide and allowed his mother to feed him.

"Ahh..." He said softly as the food went into his mouth. Sakura giggled as she watched his eyes light up at the taste. "Mmm...It's yummy..."

"I think so as well! You have a real talent for cooking Harry!" Sakura praised.

"I was always told it was horrible... and everyone hated it..." Harry mumbled. Growing, the idol hugged her son closer.

"Well, they were lying. It's great. We all think so."

"Yeah, almost as good as Tori!"

"You're a great cooking partner."

"It really is amazing..."

"Can I have seconds?"

"You cook very well, young Harry."

Harry blushed deeply, but gave them all a genuine smile. Their words seemed true, and Harry felt good seeing them all so happy with his cooking. "Y...you're welcome." He finally got out. After breakfast, the girls decided that they would practice again, and Harry was all too eager to go in and watch them. So he sat in the corner and watched with a huge smile. Needless to say, his happiness happened to be somewhat... distracting. Not just to Sakura, but to a number of the Idols. But they could never bring themselves to ask the boy to leave. The absolute last thing they wanted to do was hurt their new family members' feelings. So, the girls what did their best to keep practicing for a while more. Eventually, they decided to take a break and Lily and Skaura went to talk with Harry.

Sakura picked the boy up and set him down on her lap gently, smiling warmly at him. "You enjoying the performance, Harry?" She cooed gently.

"Your voices are so pretty!" Harry said happily, looking up at Sakura, who rubbed his back lovingly.

"Aww... yours is adorable too!" She smiled.

Harry blushed and let out a squeak at that. "A-Adorable...? My voice...? Really...?" He asked softly, silently adoring the praise he was offered.

"Yup!" Lily laughed with a closed-eyed smile. "It's just so cute! Just like you!" Kissing Harry on the head, the small dial laughed at Harry's baffled look, but could also tell he was somewhat warming up to the praise. The boy looked up at his mother, then his big sister, and smiled in content. He loved his new home...He loved his new family... Did he truly deserve it though? Sakura and Lily seemed to read his face and before he could ask, they gave him a warm hug. Harry leaned into the contact and sighed contently.

"You deserve this Harry, more than anyone." Sakura whispered into his ear. Harry decided that his mama knew best, and nuzzled closer into her embrace. It was slightly odd in a way that a zombie could be this comforting to be around. Then again, she loved him, she cared for him. So it didn't matter to Harry what she looked like, zombie or human. She was his mama, and that was all he needed.


	7. Chapter 7

That night, the group decided to put on a movie. Saki had wanted to watch a horror film, but Sakura wanted Harry to join them, so that went out the window pretty fast. Eventually, the decided on a movie called 'Into The Arachne-verse' about a superhero meeting other versions of himself. Harry was drawn to the bright colours and found himself enthralled in the story. He looked up at Sakura, who had him snug in her lap. "I think you'd all make cool superheroes."

"Really? And what do you think our powers would be?" Sakura asked.

"Uh... singing?"

Sakura smiled. "I see. So seven zombies saving the world through the power of song and dance. That would certainly make an interesting series."

"Imagine if they based it off of us!" Lily added, her excitement growing. "That'd be so cool!"

"Tch...Song and dance? No way, man. If I were gonna be a cool superhero, I'd wanna be the second coming of Wraith Rider! THAT would be sick!"

"Who's Wraith Rider?" Harry asked, curiously. Saki gave Harry a smirk, and ignored Sakura's 'Please Don't' look,

"He's a flaming skeleton guy who rides a motorcycle. He has these really cool fire powers, and he can tell when someone is evil. Plus he can burn people's souls by staring at them."

"Wow." Harry replied, seeming enthralled by that description. "Would you be good or evil?"

"Good of course, silly." Saki laughed, messing with Harry's hair playfully. "I'd protect you and the others from anyone who tried to mess with us!"

"Yay!" Harry cheered. "Ghost Rider Auntie Saki!" Saki grinned ear to ear.

"Has a nice ring to it, huh?"

"Alright you two, we don't want to miss the plot!" Sakura chided kindly, Harry turned back, his interest once again captured.

"The little guy's seeming happier." Saki noted. "Great to see."

The movie soon ended, and as the credits rolled, Harry let out a soft yawn. Sakura smiled and stood up. "Looks like someone's going to bed."

"Aww.." Lily pouted. "I wanna stay up..."

"I meant Harry." Sakura corrected the tiny idol.

"Oh." Lily paused for a moment. "But I wanna stay up with him!"

"Sorry big sis Lily... M'sleepy..." Harry mumbled, nuzzling closer into Sakura's embrace. Smiling, the redhead zombie carried the boy upstairs. Harry smiled into her arms and listened to Sakura's humming. He enjoyed it, her voice was pretty... Sakura entered her room and tucked the boy into her bed, making sure he was nice and comfy, before handing him the bear that she now considered his. "Goodnight mama..." He mumbled, squirming about cutely before pulling the bear close.

"Goodnight Harry." Sakura smiled, kissing him on the cheek. Giggling to herself, the zombie left her adopted son to sleep. She was probably gonna be dragged into watching a horror movie by Saki and AI... As she was closing the door, Romero walked under her and into the room like he owned the place. Hopping up onto the bed, he curled up at Harry's feet. Sakura found it too adorable to stop. Giggling, she went back downstairs to join her friends. Sure enough, Saki had put on Friday the 13th, and it seemed that Lily had changed her mind about wanting to stay up as a result. "Well, it's getting late, I should-" Sakura began, only for Saki to grab her arm and pull so hard it nearly came off.

"NOPE!" Saki declared. "You are staying RIGHT here!" Sakura groaned into her hands. Looks like she was doomed to another night of nightmares...

Little did she know, she wasn't the only one.

Romero was awakened from his sleep by the sounds of someone speaking.

"No..ple...i..." The dog looked around confused, then looked at Harry. Concerned, the small dog approached the sleeping boy and let out a soft whine before licking his face in an attempt to wake him up from his nightmare. Harry was now tossing and turning in his sleep, fear seeming to grow more and more apparent. Romero let out a tiny yip to try and wake Harry, but nothing. The dog whined again and let out a bark in another attempt to wake the boy, but got nothing in response. Luckily, Sakura stepped in at that moment. Romeo noticed and ran over, jumping up and down, waving his tiny paws and whining audibly.

"Aw, what's wrong Romero?" Sakura asked, rubbing the dogs head, then looking up and gasping. "Oh my gosh, Harry!" Sakura exclaimed, rushing to the boy's side and grabbing him in her arms, almost immediately jostling him from his fitful sleep.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THE FREAKY STUFF!" Harry screamed, his eyes shooting awake as he began flailing around.

"Harry?! Harry, it's me!" Sakura exclaimed, panicked. "It's okay, Harry, it's okay! Mama's here, please don't be afraid! I'm right here!" Harry began hyperventilating, looking around without his glasses, everything seemed blurry. However, he heard Sakura's voice and tried to find it. Sakura plucked his glasses off the night stand and gently put them on his face. Harry's breathing slowly settled to a more natural pace, and he looked into his adopted mother's concerned face. Then, tears formed in his eyes.

"M...mama!" He cried, burying his face into her chest. "Please don't send me back!"

Sakura rubbed his back, cooing to calm him down. "There, there sweetie. There, there." Harry sobbed into Sakura's chest, clutching tightly at her shirt, as the zombie held him tightly, rubbing his back. Romero laid down with a whine. It (metaphorically) tore Sakura's heart in two. She hated seeing him so helpless, not able to begin imaging the nightmares he must be living with. But determined to do whatever it took to help him conquer them. She sat on the bed and cuddled the boy close to her bosom, resting her chin on his tiny head. "Why don't you go ahead and tell mama all about it?" Harry's eyes watered, he bit his lip. Could he tell her? He wanted to. Desperately, but was afraid to... He looked up at Sakura, and saw the trust in her eyes. He whimpered, then began.

"Un..uncl...uncle... Uncle Vernon took me in, because he was really nice... But then... he wasn't."

Sakura frowned at the little boy worriedly. "Is that what he told you? That he only took you in because he was a good guy?" She asked worriedly.

"Y...yeah." Harry nodded. "And he said... he wanted to help me lose the freakishness..."

"And then he started hurting you." Sakura concluded.

Harry nodded his head slowly. "He...He was using the bat...I hate when he uses the bat...It's old and hard and the little wood pieces go in my skin..." Sakura's eyes kept widening as Harry continued his story, her grip tightening on him. "And... there's was this stuff under the sink they made me drink... I always kept throwing up after, and then they got mad about that..."

"Oh my God..." Sakura breathed.

"And they locked me outside in the snow one time, and it was so cold..." Sakura's breathing was becoming rapid. She no longer felt shock, she felt ANGER. How could anyone. ANYONE. Hurt such a precious little child? And in such horrific ways at that! Those evil, twisted monsters! She wanted so much to beat them to an inch of their lives... She felt true, genuine hatred. "Mi...miss Sakura?" Harry squeaked, seeing the anger seething on his mother's face. "If.. if you wanna hit me... go ahead." Sakura's world seemed to snap back to reality as she began kissing Harry over and over.

"Never." She whispered in his ear gently. "I will NEVER hit you. EVER." Harry looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"P-Promise?"

"I promise." She said, kissing him on the nose. Pulling Harry into her arms, Sakura lay back on her bed, whispering a gentle tune to soothe Harry back to sleep. Harry snuggled in closer and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overtake him once again. This time around, he suffered no nightmares at all. Sakura knew this probably wasn't the last time she'd have to help her son overcome his nightmares, she had no qualms with it. From what she had been told, Harry's life had been a living hell, and she was determined to make it the best she could.


	8. Chapter 8

Albus Dumbledore stood before the two elder Dursleys, his expression full of anger and disappointment. "I...I thought you would be better than this..." He finally seethed. "And yet... not even Voldemort could be so cruel..." Minerva scowled at Albus, it was him who caused Harry to end up in this horrific place, and it was Albus that had thought this was a good idea. However, her anger at her employers' lacking judgement paled in the rage she felt towards Vernon and Petunia Dursley at this moment in time. "I will ask you again, then I will use force if needed. Where. Is. Harry?"

Vernon scowled. "Gone." He spat out. "Dumped the boy in some alley." The anger in the room seemed to cause the temperature to rise several degrees.

"You... what?"

"I got rid of him! We never wanted him, so he's gone now! Good riddance to the brat! Him and his freakish family... The world is be better off without them!" The anger no longer seemed to be floating in the air, it was now directed at Vernon Dursley and his family.

"You...vile...repulsive...DISGUSTING creatures... I knew all along you were the worst sort of people there was...You... You inhuman filth..." McGonagall seethed. "Death would be too merciful of you..." Upon hearing that, the Dursley's seemed to shrink back a bit.

"Minerva, this is not the time or place for that." Albus said calmingly, but the anger hidden below his voice was unmistakable. "They will pay for what they have done, and I will only ask this once more, where did you leave Harry?"

"In an alley near some trashy pub when we went on vacation to Japan." Vernon replied gruffly. Snape felt broken inside. He had promised Lilly he'd protect her son, that he'd be his guardian from the shadows... and yet here he had been living, mistreated, abused and now abandoned. Snape thought himself a fool for every questioning why Lilly had chosen James. Wordlessly, the hook nosed man approached Vernon Dursley, and did what many a person wanted to do after prolonged exposure to the man...Punched him in the face. Everyone was taken aback, Minerva and Albus started slack-jawed as Snape hit Vernon again, knocking the oversized man to the ground with a bloody nose.

"YOU ARE VERMIN! UTTER VERMIN! YOU ABANDONED YOUR FIVE YEAR OLD NEPHEW IN ANOTHER COUNTRY NEXT TO A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE GET DRUNK?!"

"Should we do something?" Minerva asked quietly.

"I don't think so." Albus frowned. "The Dursley's have lost Harry, it will be hard to find him without alerting the world to our presence. The old man sighed deeply. "I will try and see if I can find him with a tracking charm... But I can't help but fear for the worst... For Harry and the wizarding world..." Minerva was quiet now, feeling numb, she looked form Albus to Snape, then out a window. What had they done?

Harry clapped his tiny hands together as his family finished their newest practice routine. Sakura turned and smiled. "Aww, what a good audience."

"Good going girls!" Kotaro declared. "With each practice, we come ever closer to PERFECTION!"

"I thought you said we were perfect two practices ago." Lily commented.

"I lied."

The girls rolled their eyes at their manager's bluntness. "Classic Shades." Saki muttered in annoyance. Kotaro chuckled in response to her statement. Harry patted Romero's head as the dog finished his food and walked over to Harry before plopping down. Sakura smiled sadly at her son. Last night had been so tough for him... she was so proud of how hard we was trying not to let it keep him down.

Turning back to Kotaro, she asked a very simple question. "Have you managed to find us any new gigs?"

"Well, as a matter of fact I have!" The manager declared. "It's not as big as the contest, but it pays well. You are going to perform onstage at the BEACH!" Kotaro cheered. "You know what that means?! BEACH DAY! Swim-free beach day, but STILL A BEACH DAY!" The girls were about to react when Harry spoke up.

"What's a beach?" He asked innocently.

The idols turned to look at him. "A beach is...well, it's basically a big body of water with lots of sand to play in." Ai explained.

"Oh. Is that good?" Harry asked, never having been to one before.

"Well, we're gonna have lots of fun if that's what you're asking!" The idol replied.

Harry smiled and nodded his head. "Okay...If you say it's fun, then I can't wait to go to the beach." He declared.

"Why is he so adorable?!" Saki mentally squeaked, trying not to let down her 'tough' image. The group decided to break for ten minutes, then practice some more. Soon enough, the time to hit the beach came. The girls packed up the beach umbrella, some towels, a picnic lunch and a frisbee for them to play with. Harry seemed amazed by the beach, looking about at the sand and the cool blue water as Sakura carried him to a shaded spot. She set him down gently as the girls carried over the rest of their beach stuff. "Yep, this is a good spot." Saki said with a nod. She set up their blanket.

Harry watched as a flock of gulls flew by overhead, squawking audibly.

"Like the beach so far hon?" Junko asked.

Harry nodded his head with a smile. "Uh-huh! It's really pretty. I like looking at the water." He stared out at the sparkling blue water with a smile.

"That's great to hear! Maybe later you can go swimming!"

"I don't know how." Harry replied, embarrassed.

"Oh. Well, we're not too good at swimming either... so we can make sand castles!" Ai grinned.

Harry tilted his little head with a tiny frown. "Build a sand castle? How do we do that? Sand would fall apart super easily, you can't live in a castle made of sand." Ai and a few others laughed at his confusion. Sakura messed with his hair playfully.

"We'll show you later hon."

Harry blinked his eyes, then shrugged and sat next to his family on the blanket. He looked up at all the seagulls that were flying overhead. "I like the sounds the birdies make. It sounds like they're singing."

"Oh yeah?" Saki asked. "And who sings better?"

Harry blinked. "You guys do... The birdies make nice noises... But the nice noises don't really change very much...But your singing is different every time."

"That and their songs spread joy to all who hear it!" Kotaro added in his over-the-top manner. "Those birds just annoy people mostly."

Harry's lip formed into a pout. "The birdies aren't annoying. They make pretty music too." He insisted, arms crossed over his chest. Kota to decided not to argue as he began unloading some of the band's supplies. Yugiri sat down next to Harry and began fixing her makeup, giving Harry a warm smile.

"It truly is a breathtaking place to be. In my time, I never went to a beach like this. This is a wonderful opportunity for both of us." She said to the boy.

"Your time?" Harry asked confused.

"Well, you see dear, I'm a bit older than the others."

"Older?" Harry asked with a tilted head. "But...how much older?" Yugiri smiled at the boy.

"I am older by about one hundred and fifty years, if I were to estimate." Harry was amazed.

"Wow... You died a super long time ago..."

"Indeed. It was a very interesting time to grow up."

"Really?" Harry asked with interest. "Um... what was it like? If it's okay for me to ask..."

"Well...It was much less advanced. Rather than large cities like this, we had small villages. There were no cement roads. It was all dirt. We used horses and carriages to get around, and farming was far more prevalent." Harry seemed to have moved closer to Yugiri absentmindedly, the idol noticed and wrapped an arm around him, holding him.

"So you lived on a farm?" He asked.

Yugiri shook her head. "No, dear. I was a noblewoman. I worked as...well, I'm afraid you're very much too young for me to explain my line of work to you." Harry blinked but nodded nonetheless. The two sat on the blanket, enjoying the view of the beach and ocean. Harry remained tucked into Yuguri's arm, and didn't seem to mind.

Then, Sakura decided after about thirty minutes that she wanted her son back. She tapped Harry's shoulder. "Wanna go build a sandcastle, Harry?"

"How do we do that?" Harry asked as Sakura sat down in the sand.

"Well, we begin by gathering some sand in the bucket..." Harry followed Sakura's instructions, focusing hard as they built up the sand castle. Soon enough, they had a sizeable sand castle built up. "You did wonderful Harry!" Sakura praised, making Harry smile warmly. He looked over his sand castle with great pride, taking pride in their hard work. And then it was all swept away when a giant wave came to shore.

"Awwww..." he sighed saddened to see the castle get destroyed.

"Don't worry sweetie! We can make another!" Sakura said reassuringly. And so they did. It lasted about as long as the first before getting washed away again. Then they made another. It was washed up as well. Sakura noticed now that Harry seemed to be enjoying the water washing the castles away, and smiled as she helped him build another, being careful not to get wet. This time they made a huge sand castle. The biggest one Sakura had ever seen. Unfortunately, a giant sand castle needed a giant wave to wash it up... ...and make Harry fall over laughing, on top of that, his small body found itself being buried under some the mud. He squirmed for a moment, but found he couldn't get out.

"Um... I'm stuck Mama..." He said, looking up at Sakura. Unfortunately, Sakura was in an even worse predicament than he was, as she had her entire upper body lodged in the sand, legs sticking up in the air. Harry noticed her flailing about and laughed at the sight. He began trying to dig himself out, but to no avail.

"Hey Harry." Saki said mischievously, taking a seat nearby. "How's the day been?"

Harry tilted his head to the side. "Um...It's been okay, but um...Can you get me out of here...?" Saki smirked and pulled him out, then looked over at Sakura and burst into laughter.

"Well, she seems stuck, doesn't she?" Saki teased.

"Yeah. Should we get her out?" harry asked, looking up at Saki.

"Meh, she can wait a minute." Saki shrugged, holding Harry close to her chest and resting her head on his head. Sakura let out a muffled scream of protest and pressed her feet against the sand, pushing against it with all her might. Eventually the others came over and helped dig the trapped idol out. Sakura spent the next few minutes spitting sand out.

"Ugh...Why me?! That's the second time I ended up with my head stuck in the ground..." Sakura grumbled. Yugiri patted her back in comfort.

"Well, at least you're no longer trapped in the sand." The idol said calmingly. "And it did seem to make young Harry smile quite a bit."

Sakura's shoulders slumped in misery and a dark cloud formed over her head. "Ooooh... Even my cuddly little Harry thought it was funny..."

"I'm sorry Mama..." Harry said, feeling guilty for laughing.

"Oh c'mon Sakura! It was pretty funny." Ai defended their actions.

Sakura grabbed Harry away from Saki and poutex, hugging him close. "Maybe to YOU it was..." She grumbled. "To me it was totally embarrassing!" Sakura still felt bitter about how the others were treating her, but she did feel a bit better when Harry tried to hug her waist. She smiled at the boy and kissed his forehead. "C'mon, Harry. Let's go for a walk on the beach." Carrying the boy in her arms, she walked off. Harry seemed enthralled with everything around him, looking left and right at everything they passed by, pointing out things that interested him, Sakura smiled all the while.

He seemed particularly enthused by the small fish he saw swimming around in the water. "Wow, they're really fast!" The boy exclaimed with a smile. One of the fish suddenly seemed tp jump out of the water, flailing about as it fell back into the water. Harry laughed at the sight, it was a sound Sakura was loving more and more every time she heard it.

"Y'know your Auntie Junko is super into fishing." Sakura said to the boy. "She caught, like, twenty fish last time we went camping together."

"Really?" Harry replied with great interest.

"Oh yeah, she loves it!" Sakura continued. "She caught this MASSIVE fish that was almost two feet long! She loves talking about it, you should ask her!"

Harry perked up. "Is that the big fishy that's on the picture on the wall back home? The one where Auntie Junko's holding it and looking all happy?"

"Yup!" Sakura nodded. "She had to fight it for a good long while to keep it from getting away. I thought it was going to drag her off with it!"

"But Auntie Junko caught it?"

"Exactly."

"Did you eat it?"

"Everyone had seconds, and there was still leftovers for a week."

"Wow..." Harry breathed, trying to imagine how big the fish was. "Was it bigger than me?" Sakura passed and held Harry out in front of her, eyeing him up and down.

"No, you're bigger, but not by much." She answered, hugging him once again.

Harry smiled happily. "Does that mean that I'm a big boy?" He asked hopefully, prompting a giggle out of Sakura.

"It sure does." Harry rested his head on Sakura's shoulder as the two continued their walk, Harry watched as some birds flew above, smiling at the group of them that reminded him of his mama and his aunties, he kept an eye on the water, occasionally seeing some fish dart by, all still wondering what Junko's story would be. Sooner than they had expected, the time for the show was upon them and Sakura smiled down at Harry. "Well, it's getting close to performance time...Let's head back now, okay?"

"M'kay." Harry replied still comfortably resting in his mother's arms. Smiling, the redhead made her way back to their beach area. It seemed there were other acts tonight as well, as someone had set up a large stage.

"Hey. Who else is performing tonight?" Sakura asked, getting a shrug from Ai.

"Doesn't matter. We'll be better." Lily said matter-of-factly.

"I think you will." Harry said in agreement.

The girls all turned to give the boy a smile."Heh... Thanks a heap, sport. But hey... You might have just a tiiiiny bit of bias towards us." Saki said.

"Does that change anything?" Kotaro asked aloud.

"A lot, actually." Saki replied flatly.

"They're the best band in the world." Harry said with the utmost sincerity, smiling from ear to ear. Kotaro smirked and patted the boy's head.

"Aw, you're too sweet honey." Sakura cooed, setting Harry down on the blanket again. "You and Mr. Kotaro are gonna hang out again tonight okay?"

"Okay." Harry nodded, still a bit timid around Kotaro.

Kotaro grinned widely. "All right, ladies, get on out there and show the world that Franchouchou is the best! Go go go go go go GO!" Sakura kissed Harry one last time before grinning widely at him and leaving with the others, Harry giving them a tiny wave as they left. The beachgoers sat in silence as they looked at the stage. Harry twiddled his thumbs. Kotaro smirked. "The girls are on earlier than last time. I believe they're the third act."

"Okay..." Harry mumbled in response. Kotaro looked over at the small boy and lifted up his glasses.

"Hey Kid... you okay?" He asked.

Harry mumbled something softly. Kotaro tilted his head. "Um...I feel...A little bit scared around you...But I don't know why... You didn't do anything wrong..."

Kotaro frowned, thinking it over. Harry was so happy around the girls, he even called Sakura 'Mommy' and the others 'Aunties'. Why would HE be such an- "Oh..." Kotaro realized, his eyes widening slightly. He looked at Harry with a look of understanding. "After what your dirty, no good rotten uncle did, you've developed a fear of older men."

"I...I did?" Harry squeaked. "I..,I...I...I didn't wanna... your really nice! I just..." Kotaro our his hand in Harry's back as the young boy seemed to be moments away from breaking down into uncontrollable sobbing.

"Hey now. No tears, kid, it's all right. You can't help these things. Your uncle's the one that gave you that fear. You never asked to be hurt like that."

"It's just... I... I'm sorry..." Harry mumbled. "I know you're not like him... at least. I don't think you are... I just don't wanna be hurt anymore..."

Kotaro nodded his head. "Yes, I know you don't. And you won't be. I know it's easy for me to say, but hey...It's also true. You're in good hands, kid." Harry sniffed but seemed to calm down a little before looking to Kotaro.

"I'm sorry if I upset you..." he mumbled.

"Hey. Kid." Kotaro said reasuringly. "All's good. I understand why you're upset, and you didn't offend me, no need to apologize. And you don't need to apologize for making me tell you not to apologize." Harry looked sheepish at that last part, and Kotaro chuckled. "Oh, look, they're on! Let's kick back and watch, shall we?" Harry smiled and turned his attnention to the stage, where smoke was shooting upwards and the crowd began cheering.

Harry's mouth formed into a wide grin when he saw his adopted family hit the stage. Auntie Saki grabbed the microphone. "WE'RE FRANCHOUCHOU! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!"

"Yay!" Harry cheered, despite it being drowned out by the much louder crowd. The girls took their positions, and the show was on. Harry quickly found himself forgetting all about his previous fears, lost in the amazing performance. Kotaro smirked over at him. It never failed to amaze him how the girls' music could make people do a complete 180. On top of that, it was kinda cute to see Harry with such wonder in his eyes.

Soon enough, yet another performance came to an end, and the girls rejoined with their two boys, Sakura pulling Harry into her arms with a smile. "You were great mama!" Harry exclaimed.

"Aw, thanks sweetie. We saw you from the stage." Sakura cooed.

Harry beamed at that. "Was I happy?" Sakura booped his nose with a large grin.

"You were the happiest little boy I'd ever seen."

"Well. Your music makes me happy!" Harry replied, hugging Sakura's neck.

Sakura smiled warmly and returned the hug. "Aww...That's all I could ever ask for, Harry." She cooed, nuzzling his face. Then his stomach growled.

"Well, it was a great performance and all, but I'm really hungry." Lily said aloud. "Let's eat!" The others all agreed and sat down on the blankets they had brought. Food was distributed amongst them and soon everyone was enjoying the food in the warm summer breeze. They had packed sandwiches, sushi, rice balls, dried squid, pork buns, and more. Harry had never been allowed to eat so much food in his life. Sakura giggled as he saw his amazed expression looking at all the food.

"What do you want first hon?" She asked, adjusting him on her lap.

"I...i... I don't know." Harry finally admitted. Tae picked up a piece of fried squid and moved it towards him, groaning with her mouth wide open. She was trying to feed him like she'd seen Sakura do. Harry was a bit confused by what she was doing, then smelt the squid and opened wide, hungry to eat. Tae put the food into his mouth and Harry happily ate.

Tae felt the coners of her mouth turn up, and she picked up another piece of squid, moving it to the boy's mouth. "Aaaaahhh..." She groaned out. Harry now understood and obediently opened his mouth again, letting the zombie continue feeding him. Tae patted his head as he enjoyed the squid, with Tae giving a happy moan. Tae fed Harry the various foods on the table, and Sakura watched with a fond smile. Tae could be very adorable sometimes. Almost as much so as Harry. Eventually Harry shook his head when Tae tried to feed him again.

"No thank you Auntie Tae. I'm full." He said, seeming very content. Tae let out a saddened moan, but turned to her own food now. Junko smiled down at Harry, seeing the happy boy nuzzling into Sakura's embrace.

"He really is happy, isn't he?" She said softly, watching the content smile on Harry's face as he cozied up to his adopted mother. "After the condition you found him in, I wasn't sure if he'd ever be... well, happy. Let alone be calling you mom. You've done a great job Sakura."

"Aw... Thanks Junko!"

Harry looked at Junko with a tilted head. "Um...I never thought I'd be happy either,.. But I am, and it's thanks to all of you...Not just miss Sakura..."

Junko (and most of the girls) heard him and let out an a collective "Awww!" making him blush and try and cover his face with his tiny hands.

After lunch, the girls decided to play with the beach ball they brought along for the beach day. They opted for a simple game of catch so Harry could play. The girls all tossed the beach ball about, the inflatable ball making the rounds. It took Harry a few tries to be able to catch it, but he tried none the less. When he finally did catch it, he was met with cheers from all of the girls, and that had him feeling very good about himself. He tossed the ball to Tae, who bounced it off her head like a seal to Lily. The smaller zombie caught it and tossed it to Ai, who tossed it to Saki. Suddenly, Sakura picked up Harry and held him up above her head. Saki grinned and tossed the ball towards Harry who caught it. Then tried to toss it to Sakura, not realizing she was holding him, and bounced it off her head. Sakura blinked as the ball bounced into Yugiri's clutches, then burst into a fit of laughter. Harry couldn't help himself. He laughed alongside her.

"I'm sorry mama..." He giggled out. "I forgot that..." He trailed off as his laughter took over, Sakura lowering him and pressing a kiss onto his forehead.

"Everything you do is so adorable..." Sakura laughed.

Harry tilted his head with a frown. "Really? Oh...Um...I'll try to do more things then! ...I'm just...not really sure what kind of things..." He finished sheepishly.

"You just proved her point kiddo." Saki smirked, rubbing his head. "Just be yourself. That's all we can ask for."

Harry perked up at that and smiled. "Okay, I'll try!" The girls all grinned. Then they played with their beach ball until it was time to go home. Surprisingly, Harry hand't fallen asleep like they were expecting, but was comfortably held by Ai, who baby-talked to him, making him giggle a little, as the other packed up.

"Did you have a good day at the beach sweetie?" Harry nodded his head with a smile. He liked the beach. It was really fun. Ai smiled. "Hmm...Maybe we could get a pool someday so we can all swim."

"That'd be fun." Harry said with a smile, as Lily came over and suddenly took him from Ai.

Ai frowned in annoyance at the smaller zombie, who stuck out her tongue in response. "I haven't gotten a chance to hold him all day, it's my turn now." Harry didn't seem to mind the change in who was holding him, and let Lily hug him like a stuffed bear, giving a girlish squeal all the while. Sakura smiled over at Lily and Harry. It was very cute to see the youngest band member interacting with the tiny child. However, it also made it that much more apparent how tiny he was... She mentally sighed, knowing they may have begun the path to healing Harry, but there was still a ways to go. Despite all they had fed him, he hadn't changed too much... Although at the very least his ribcage was far less noticeable... They were at least finally beginning to get some meat on his tiny little bones. Lily was currently humming a gentle tune to Harry, who seemed to be snugging right up to his big sister, enjoying the melody. As they all piled into the van, Harry stirred himself from falling asleep and looked around.

"We're in the van already?" He mumbled tiredly before resting his tiny head against Lily's chest again. "That was...[Yawn]...really fast..."

"Aww, you getting tired sweetie?" Lily cooed playfully. "You can take a nap if you want. I'll take care of you."

"No... I'm [Yawn] not tired..." Harry mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Sakura giggled and reached over to pat Harry's head. "It's okay, Harry. Just go to sleep, okay?" Harry let out a soft mumble before he began snoring.

"He's so cute when he sleeps!" Lily squealed happily, resting her cheek on the top of his head with a massive grin on her face.

"Lily. Not so loud." Sakura chided. "Do you want to wake him up?"

"Ooh. Sorry." Tae saw how Lily was resting her cheek on Harry's head and decided she wanted to do it too, so she rested her cheek on Junko's head, causing the white haired zombie to sweat nervously.

"Uh... Tae?" Junko mumbled, trying to get the zombie off of her. Tae however, just leaned in a little bit more, giving an appreciative moan. Junko let out a whimper of fear and tensed up. She doubted her fear of the feral zombie would ever fully fade away. Sakura giggled at the sight.

"You two look comfortable." Saki remarked with a grin.

"Please... help..." Junko muttered. Lily giggled softly and adjusted Harry in her arms so he could rest against his head against her shoulder. Tae, in response, rested her head on Junko's shoulder, which resulted in the girl crying. "Why me?" She moaned in misery. Tae responded by biting her head. Junko felt her eye twitching amongst the tears, like she was going to pass out or freeze. She tried once again to get Tae to move, but to no avail.

Saki came to the girl's rescue, thankfully. "Hey, Tae! I got some tasty dried squid here for ya!" Tae immediately turned her affection to Saki. Her mouth watering she lunged for the food, grabbing the bag and tearing into it.

"Thank you..." Junko sighed in relief.

"I don't get what you're so afraid of, Junko. She's so cute." Sakura said as she reached over to pat Tae's head, causing the zombie to let out a content grumble.

"It's just... I just..." Junko tried to reply, but her voice hitched and she shook her head. Not saying anything. Noticing the silent tears Lily wordlessly walked over and put Harry into her arms. Junko blinked and accepted the child, looking down at him in surprise. Her tears faded away and she smiled softly at the little boy, already feeling better. Harry didn't seem to notice the change in who was now holding him, and let out a tiny yawn in his sleep, nuzzling closer to who he thought was Lily, snoring quietly. Junko gave a closed-eyed smile and looked forward, now feeling far more content and at ease. She quietly ran her fingers through Harry's hair as the car drove. "His hair is so soft..." she whispered. "How'd he get it to be so soft?" Harry mumbled something in his sleep. Junko wasn't sure what he said, but she chose to believe he said "L'oreal. Because I'm worth it." With a giggle, she adjusted Harry in her arms and looked out the window. "You very much are." She smiled. As the white haired zombie held Harry, the drive was spent in comfortable silence, with most of the zombies looking out the window at the passing scenery. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orangeish-reddish glow over the ocean. The calm sky slowly darkened and the stars began to shine. Soon enough, they made it home and piled out of the car one by one. Junko approached Sakura and handed Harry over. "Here. It's time to take him back now..." Sakura smiled and took her son back. Rocking Harry in her arms, she got out of the van and walked towards the home. Entering the house, she made her way to her room and tucked the boy into her bed, running her fingers through his hair gently. She really did love her boy...

Harry reached up in his sleep, mumbling "Mama..." Sakura smiled and quickly got changed, climbing into bed next to Harry.

"G'night, sweetie... G'night..."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore sighed in relief. "Thank goodness...I found him..." The old man looked at the map, with a marker on Japan. "It seems he's found shelter... That much is a relief...I can only hope he is safe..." Shaking his head, the old man rose to his feet. "I must get to Japan...Quickly..." Fawkes let out a confused squawk and looked to his friend. "Harry Potter is alive Fawkes. I only hope he is safe... I must correct my mistake before it's too late..."


	9. Chapter 9

Kotaro was up late, doing some paperwork for the girls' next gig, when he heard someone knocking at the door. Tensing up, he narrowed his eyes. "Now just who could that be?" Opening the door, he looked confused at an old man standing on the doorstep. He blinked a few times before finally saying. "Uh... hey? If you're one of those witness guys..." he trailed off.

"Oh no, nothing of the sort. However, you may have someone very important in your possession, and it is imperitive that I meet with him." Once again, Kotaro stared in confusion.

"Pretty sure you got the wrong place, gramps." He said, the confusion apparent in his tone.

"I'm looking for Harry Potter. I know I found him here. Please, I must know if he is all right." Kotaro's expression was unreadable as he stared at the old man. Mentally, he wasn't sure if he should punch the old man's lights out and question him later, slam the door and run, or try and figure out what exactly was happening.

"I'm sorry." He finally decided to answer. "Who the hell are you, and who's Harry... whatever the name was?"

"Harry Potter. He is a child I have done a...great disservice to... I put him with the wrong people, I misplaced my trust, and he paid the price..." Kotaro's eyes widened in shock, then that quickly turned to anger. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed the old and and slammed him into a wall.

"You're the bastard who caused him so much pain." He seethed.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "Indirectly so... But yes... I assure you, sir, that had I known how they would treat him, I never would have considered putting him beneath their roof."

"And that's supposed to make it better?!" Kotaro snapped. "Do you have ANY IDEA what hell that kid went through?!"

Dumbledore nodded his head. "I do... Mr. Dursley was...kind enough to explain it to me..." Kotaro snorted.

"So just what do you plan on doing about it then?"

"I'm here to try and make amends. I never intended for him to be harmed. All I wanted was for him to be safe." Dumbledore tried to explain himself, but he could tell Kotaro wasn't feeling any less agitated. Suddenly, Dumbledore noticed something peeking out from the doorway. Saki, Ai, Junko, Lily, Yugiri and Tae. All without their makeup on. The headmaster was taken aback, sure, he lived in a world with mystical creatures, magic, and demon spirits that would suck your souls out. But this was something he had never seen before. "Who are they?" He finally said.

Kotaro stiffened and he turned to look at the girls. "AAAAAAAAHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO STAY OUT OF SIGHT!"

"We heard you yelling and..." Lily began but trailed off, feeling awkward.

"Who's he?" Saki asked, looking to Dumbledore. "I didn't think our fans were this old. Or creepy."

Dumbledore looked somewhat upset at that. "I'm not creepy... I am here to see Harry Potter."

"You're here to see a little kid? Yeah, you're creepy."

"Wait. Why does he want to see Harry?" Lily suddenly spoke up again.

"Apparently he's the asshole who left him with his old family." Kotaro growled, and the anger that was only contained to him seemed to immediately spread like wildfire. First off, Saki, with no hesitation, ran up and punched him in the gut. Then Lily kicked him in the shin. Kotaro paled. "IDOLS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE VIOLENT!"

"AFTER WHAT HE DID TO HARRY?!" Saki screamed back. Kotaro pauses.

"FAIR. BUT STILL."

Ai stood between the old man and the two enraged zombies. "Girls, look, I know you're mad, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt and hear what he has to say, all right?" The girls grumbled but eventually backed off.

Dumbledore looked at the black haired girl, taking note of her green skin. "Thank you, young lady." He said softly before taking a deep breath. "Now, I understand your anger, and I won't argue against the accusations you've lain towards me. But there is much more to this than I think you understand. I did what I did to try and protect Harry, I didn't realize what he was going to be put through."

Saki snorted. "Really now? What kinda lameass excuse have ya got for us then?"

Then Yugiri spoke. "By any chance would young Harry be a wizard?" Dumbledore was taken aback by the woman, er, zombie's blunt question. He thought for a moment about the laws concerning sharing this kind of information, then remembered that the women in the room with him were probably zombies, and therefore the rules were different.

He slowly nodded his head. "He certainly is... And a most powerful one at that. And he was put there because he is a target for the followers of a very dangerous man... One so deadly that most choose not to speak his name aloud, for the fear it brings with it to some can be unbearable."

"Pfft. It's just a name." Saki rolled her eyes in annoyance. "What's so bad about this guy?"

"The man has slaughtered his fellow wizards by the thousands with minimal effort. He had a vast pool of dark magic at his disposal, and he knew how to use it."

The room went silent, a mixture of shock and fear taking a grip over everyone present. "Holy crap..." Saki finally muttered.

"So what does this guy want with Harry?" Ai asked, concern clear in her tone.

"It is not him who wants Harry. After all, Harry is the one responsible for his death.", Dumbledore explained.

"WHAT!?" Was collectively exclaimed in varying levels of shock. To the girls, a lot of things that seemed crazy were very realistic, zombies, magic, even the idea of Harry being a wizard they could accept, but him having killed a force of pure evil? That just didn't sound right...

"How...How did he do that...?" Junko asked with a confused frown. Dumbledore smiled.

"Some way, somehow, he managed to deflect his spell."

"And so this guy... he's gone, right? He's not gonna threaten Harry anymore?" Ai asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, this man is gone. However, his followers still remain. And there is no doubt that they will seek revenge on his behalf." There was a tenseness following that statement, before Kotaro spoke up again.

"Well tough on them. They ain't gonna get the kid until they get through us."

Dumbledore nodded his head. "I had hoped you would say that." Then he looks upstairs. "Harry is here then..."

"He's sleeping with his mom right now." Saki said.

Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise. "His... mother?" He finally said.

"Yeah. After she found him in an alleyway, Sakura's been taking care of the little guy.

Dumbledore smiled. "Good...Very good... Young Harry is in good hands then."

"So what happens now?" Saki asked.

Dumbledore lowered his head. "I wish to personally apologize to Harry for all he suffered due to my carelessness. Will you allow me to do this?"

"We'd have to talk with Lady Sakura. And she's asleep with young Harry currently." Yugiri remarked.

"That's right, old timer. I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow." Kotaro agreed. Dumbledore nodded and rose to his feet.

"Very well. Thank you for your time." After he left, the idols all turned to one another, a new issue very clear.

"So now what?" Lily asked.

Kotaro shrugged. "We all go back to bed and explain the situation to Sakura and Harry first thing in the morning." He replied calmly. The girls hesitated.

"How can we sleep after all that?"

"I...I don't know." Kotaro shook his head, defeat noticeable in his voice.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning saw Sakura awakening with a yawn before looking down to see Harry cuddled up against her stomach. Smiling, she ran her fingers through his hair gently. It was moments like these that she wished she could freeze, and remain in forever. Everything was perfect. Then the familiar sound of Kotaro's voice sounded out from downstairs. "SAKURA! YOU AND HARRY ARE NEEDED DOWN HERE! ON THE DOUBLE!" Harry's eyes shot open, fear shooting through his body.

"I'M SORRY!" He exclaimed in terror. "I'LL GET TO WORK RIGHT AWAY!"

"Harry! It's okay!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to calm him. "You're safe!" Harry breathed heavily to calm himself down, then looked at his adopted mother and sighed in relief. "See? It's okay, it's just Mr. Kotaro being a drama queen." It took a minute of Sakura rubbing his back, but Harry eventually seemed to have calmed down.

She picked him up and walked downstairs to meet up with Kotaro, who stood with crossed arms. "You're exactly one minute late getting down, Sakura! Hustle in the future!"

"Oh, I'm sorry your screaming terrified Harry and I was trying to calm him." Sakura replied sarcastically.

"Apology accepted. Now there's a very important discussion we need to have right now. Someone came here looking for Harry last night." Sakura seemed surprised by the news.

"Really? Who?" She asked.

Harry suddenly became scared again. "Is it my uncle?!" He said in a panic, looking around nervously and wringing his tiny hands together.

"No. Don't worry kid, it wasn't him." Kotaro shook his head. "I wouldn't have let him in if it was."

"Admittedly, he wasn't much better..." Saki grumbled.

Sakura frowned and held Harry closer. "Okay, well if it wasn't Harry's uncle, then who was it?" She asked with great concern. Kotaro frowned.

"The old man that put him there." Sakura's grip tightened exponentially on Harry as anger flared through her.

"What?" She finally got out.

"Easy, Sakura. He seemed to feel really bad about leaving him with those monsters. In fact, the whole reason he showed up was so he could personally apologize." Sakura went silent for a few moments, rubbing Harry's back, his face buried into her shoulder.

"No." She finally said through clenched teeth. "After what he put Harry through..."

Ai put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "He didn't mean for that to happen. He never expected it to be so bad..."

"Well if he cares so much, why did he never check on him?" The others went silent, realizing they hand't asked him that. They looked to one another before finally looking back to Sakura.

"We don't know."

Sakura snorted and hugged Harry tighter. "Well then in that case, I don't know why I should give him what he wants. If he can't be bothered to look after Harry, he doesn't care enough."

"...Listen, Sakura, he explained something to us, and... it was kind of hard to believe, but I think it explains why he hasn't been around too much." Ai sighed.

"Which is?"

"Well...Harry is...well, he's a wizard. A powerful wizard that ended up killing an evil wizard." Sakura stared blankly at her friend for several seconds.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" Sakura finally said.

"Harry's a powerful wizard who killed a super bad wizard." Lily said matter-of-factly.

Sakura looked down at Harry with a blank expression. He looked back up at her, clear confusion on his face. Sakura turned to her friends. "That's a hard pill to swallow." She looked down at Harry, who looked up confused at her.

"Mama? What are they saying?" He asked, bewilderment clear on his face.

Sakura smiled down at the boy gently. "Nothing bad, Harry. They're just saying that you have magic powers, that's all." She noticed Harry flinch at the word magic.

"Y..you...you can't say that word!" He whimpered. "It's a bad word... I get hit when I say it..."

"Aww, it's okay Harry." Sakura smiled down at him, kissing his forehead. "You won't get hit for saying it here."

Harry still looked uneasy. "There's...There's no such thing as magic... I...I can't be a wizard...I'm just Harry..." The boy twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"Well, magic or no. You're my Harry, and nothing can change that." She said, nuzzling his cheek.

Harry visibly relaxed at this gesture and nuzzled in closer to her with a tiny smile. Kotaro cleared his throat. "So then you won't let the old man say his piece?" Sakura seemed flustered, a mix of thoughts running through her decomposing mind.

"I...well..." She tried to think of an answer. She looked down at Harry and sighed softly, running her fingers through his hair gently. "I think I'll let Harry be the one to make that decision." Harry looked around at the idols, then back up at Sakura.

"So my mommy and daddy didn't die in a car crash?" He asked, sadness in his voice.

"I don't think so sweetie." Sakura replied with a gentle squeeze.

"And...somebody killed them...? On purpose...? Why would they do that...? That's... That's really really mean..." The little boy whimpered as he looked down. Sakura didn't know how to react, she continued rubbing his back, trying to comfort him. "I...I wanna meet him." Harry finally mumbled. "I wanna know why someone wanted to hurt my mommy and daddy..."

Sakura nodded her head sadly. "Okay, sweetie...We'll get this guy over so you can meet him..." She cooed gently. She looked at Kotaro. "So...yeah...Guess the man's getting what he wants after all."

"Okay." Kotaro nodded. "...did any of you get his number?" There was a collective face palm as it dawned on everyone thy had no way to contact the old man. Before they could dwell on it, however, they heard a knock on the door. Kotaro blinked. "Everyone hide, just in case...I don't know who it is, but we better hope it's the old man." Quickly making them self scarce, Kotaro sighed as he began to open the door. It was the old man, but he wasn't alone. Two other men and a woman were with him as well. Kotaro blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't recall the part where I was informed that I'd be hosting a party of four. Must be losing my memories."

"Ah, yes... about that." The old man replied, embarrassed. "These are people who also are concerned about Harry's safety..."

"Hm." Kotaro replied flatly. He studied the three newcomers. One was a stern looking woman. "Yeesh. Crack a smile why don't ya?" He turned to the hook-nosed man. "There's this wonderful new invention called shampoo. It'd do wonders for ya." Then he looked at the giant. "...Say, any chance I can hire you as the girls' bodyguard?" The large man seemed confused by the question, not knowing how to respond.

The woman pursed her lips at Kotaro's words, and the hook-nosed man sneered. "My, my, quite the cheek on this one."

"Uh... okay." Kotaro muttered in response, opening the door so the newcomers could enter. He sighed as he closed the door behind him. "So, old timer, good news. The kid's decided he wants to meet you, and I figure it's pointless to argue, so yeah... But there is a secret in this house that you must never reveal! Got it?!" Kotaro was somewhat surprised when the old man nodded.

"Of course." He replied. "However, we must ask that everything we discuss today remains only between us."

"Yeah. I can live with that." Kotaro nodded in agreement. He turned to the doorway. "All right, ladies, come on in now! Chop chop, let's not burn daylight!" One by one, Franchouchou piled in, Sakura holding Harry trailing in last. To say there was shock on their faces would be a massive understatement. Not only at the fact that Harry was alive and safe, but also that most of the girls were, well, zombies.

Dumbledore looked at the girls. "If I may ask, how did these girls become undead?"

"Ever watch a zombie movie or read a zombie book?"

"Yes."

"Well there's your answer!"

Silence.

"That wasn't much of an answer." Dumbledore stated.

"It's a bit of a story." Saki cut in. "But I don't see how that's important."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well then..."

"So are you gonna introduce us to your pals?" Kotaro asked.

"Ah, yes, of course. These are Rubeus Hagrid, Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall. I am Albus Dumbledore." Dumbledore introduced himself and the others.

"My name's Kotaro. These are Sakura, Saki, Ai, Junko, Lily, Yugiri, and the one chewing on ol' Hagrid's leg over there is Tae." Hagrid looked down and saw the zombie staring blankly up at him, gnawing on his leg. She paused and grunted, looking up at him. The giant chuckled at that and patted the feral zombie's head, causing her to lean further into the touch and grunt happily, much like a dog. Everyone stared surprised at the interaction between the two. Many felt like questioning this, but no one wanted to ask the question, so they simply looked back to one another.

"So you had something you wanted to say to Harry?" A rather cross Sakura asked Dumbledore with narrowed eyes. Harry was looking at the old man curiously. Dumbledore looked a tHarry, then sighed deeply. Just from looking at the boy's small frame, it was clear what he had been through.

"My boy, you may not know who I am, but I am an old friend of your parents. When they... died. I was the one who left you with your relatives."

Harry winced at that and looked down. "Oh...Okay..." Minerva's eyes narrowed as she looked at Albus.

"Look at him, Albus. Just look at him. Why did you think putting him there was an acceptable arrangement?"

"At one point, I may have believed it was to protect him for the followers of you-know-who, but I should've seen they were worse for Harry than anyone. I wanted to do what was best for everyone, I never stopped to think about what that would mean for the boy..." Harry didn't look up from the floor, upset at having those miserable memories brought back. Sakura tightened her hold on him and kissed the top of his head. Minerva noticed the interaction between the two and smiled sadly at them. It broke her heart seeing Lily and James' son reduced to such a state, but seeing the clear love the woman gave him reinforced a sense of hope that Harry would be okay, then again, practically anywhere would be superior to where Albus had left him. As for Severus, he looked at the boy and found himself internally wincing when he remembered all the horrible things he had thought about him just for being James Potter's son.

"And because of what you chose to do, Harry's been through hell before he even turned seven." Sakura continued bitterly. "The physical abuse, the verbal insults... how can you justify any of that?"

Dumbledore shook his head and sighed. "I won't try to justify my failings. I will only sincerely apologize for them. Harry, I am very, very sorry."

Harry still didn't look up, and honestly, no one could really blame him. Finally, a tiny voice simply said.

"Idongetit"

"Harry?" Sakura asked, rubbing his back.

"I don't get it..." Harry mumbled. "What did I do wrong?"

The adults and teens in the room looked around at each other in confusion. "Erm...Nothing at all, my boy. What makes you think you did anything wrong?"

"But why did my parents have to die then?" Harry whimpered, and a cold wave of realization washed over the faculty staff. They all seemed to clue in on what Harry was getting it.

"There was no true reason for Lily and James' deaths, Harry. There are simply horrible people out there that will do whatever it takes to make themselves look powerful." Severus finally said.

"Oh." Harry replied, not feeling much better at the answer.

"Harry, I don'expect ya to understand why some people do what they do." Hagrid began soberly. "But the fact of the matter is that while they're are people who do bad things, there are just as many, an'many more who do good."

Harry perked right up when he heard that. "Oh, I know! My mama and aunties are all super nice, and they make people really happy with their songs!" The others smiled at this, seeing Harry happy was a warming sight, and the half-giant nodded.

"Aye. Considering how they seem to treat you, they'd be a good example." Tae moaned in agreement, still sitting on the ground next to him. The half-giant chuckled and patted the feral zombie's head. "This one reminds me of me dog back home. His name's Fang. No bite in that one at all, really."

"Tae's... odd." Sakura admitted. "She never woke up like the rest of us."

Hagrid shrugged. "Well, I'm sure she'll be just fine if she ever does, but ey...We're gettin' off topic here, aren't we?"

"Right... so, what exactly does all this mean for Harry?" Sakura asked. "If he's the hero you claim he is, why did you just ignore him for so long?"

Albus shook his head. "I thought it wouldn't be necesarry to need to check up on him... I am a very busy man, and I never imagined the Dursleys could be so awful."

"Sure." Saki grumbled, it was clear to everyone present that if they was the best reason Dumbledore had, this may not end well for him.

Sakura agreed wholeheartedly. "If Harry's so important to you, you should have checked up on him at some point. And yes, this goes for all of you."

"We didn't have a choice in the matter. If we-"

"No." Sakura cut in. "If this evil force was gone, then what risk did you have? You were too scared of facing Harry's family and seeing the mistake you made?" Dumbledore was stunned into silence at what Sakura said, and that told the girl everything she needed to know about why the old man failed so miserably.

"She's not wrong." Minerva agreed. "I tried to tell you it was a mistake, but you chose to do so anyway. At the end of the day, the suffering Harry endured is on your hands. Nothing you can do can change that."

Sakura nodded her head, but then frowned. "Hey, wait, you're working under him too. You totally could have went to check on him. Why didn't you?"

"Because Albus convinced me it would be better for all of Harry's life was strictly monitored. Despite our hesitations, we agreed."

"Strictly monitored?! You didn't even know he was being abused! How is that even slightly monitored?! And what are you, a sheep?! Do you not have a mind of your own?! You need the old guy to make your decisions for you?!"

"Pretty sure the one of the right is a snake of some sort... or a deformed muskrat..." Saki muttered to Ai.

Snape overheard her and sneered in her direction. "You're not exactly as quiet as you'd like to believe, young lady. Or perhaps you're technically an old lady."

"I may not be quiet, but at least I care about Harry's well-being." Saki retorted. Snape let out a slight huff, but said nothing in response. He knew very well her accusation was correct. He had absolutely no room to argue.

"Sakura, I get you're mad, but if not for your sake, then Harry's, maybe you should calm down a bit." Junko spoke up, concerned for her friend.

Sakura blinked, then looked down to see Harry looking nervous and shaking slightly. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. "Yeah... You're right..." There was an always silence, the only notable sound was Harry shifting in Sakura's arms so he could try and hug her.

"I'm sorry I upset you mama..." He said quietly.

Sakura blinked down at him, then frowned sadly and hugged him back. "Aww, Harry, you didn't upset me... It was that bonkers old man."

"But... it was because of me right?" Harry asked timidly, and Albus felt all eyes turn to him, most in anger. Even Hagrid seemed to have reached his limit.

"No, Harry, it was my own fault. I made a poor decision and you paid the price for it. And for that, I am sincerely sorry."

"...That's okay." A few people tried to say something, but the shock of what Harry had just said left everyone speechless. Sakura was a mixture of shocked, angered and oddly proud.

"Wow, Harry, you're...really forgiving him, just like that?" Sakura asked in amazement. Harry nodded.

"He said he was sorry."

"But... after what he did..."

"He did it to try and help me. Doesn't that mean something?" Harry asked aloud, looking to the others for an answer.

The room was silent for a few moments. Sakura sighed softly before giving the boy a small smile. "Well, okay...If you say you forgive him, then that's good enough for me."

"Wow. Really?" Saki asked, surprised.

"Well, if Lady Sakura is willing to forgive them, perhaps we should give them a chance." Yugiri nodded.

The others slowly mumbled their agreements, Saki being the last to do so. "Yeah, fine, I guess I'll let it slide...

"Excellent, with that out of the way, I have an important question, and I suggest you think long and hard before answering." Kotaro spoke up, seemingly uncharacteristically serious. "Are you going to try and take Harry?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Certainly not. I won't take him from a home where he is well cared for and treated as a part of the family."

"Wait... you think of us... as his family?" Sakura asked, taken aback by his statement.

"Of course. You all clearly care for him, you claim to have taken him in from the streets without a second thought, if that isn't what a family would do, I don't know what is."

Saki surprisingly didn't comment. Sakura smiled softly at Harry. "I mean, to be fair... Just about anyone would have taken him..." She said softly and somewhat bashfully.

"Well, that may be true, but it's clear now he wouldn't want anyone else." Minerva remarked with a warm smile. Harry nodded his head rapidly to affirm that point, an action that did not go unnoticed by Sakura, who smiled warmly at the boy and kissed his cheek. Harry cooed at the contact and snuggled into her chest. The zombie smiled and rocked him in her arms. This action brought a smile to the face of everyone in the room. Minerva felt immensely relieved to see that Harry was so loved by his adoptive mother. "This should go without saying, but if Harry needs anything. we are more than willing to help in any way we can." The witch stated.

"Um... I have a question." Harry finally spoke up, raising his tiny hand slightly.

"Yes?"

"What were my parents like?"

Snape was the first to speak up. "Your mother was an angel dropped from the heavens while your father was a devil dredged up from the fiery pits below."

"...what?" Harry asked confused. Sakura's eyes seemed to flare up in anger at the remark.

"Severus!" Minerva hissed in anger at the man. Dumbledore looked at him with great disappointment and Hagrid chuckled nervously at Snape's bluntness.

"Considering how you speak about him, it's clear Harry's mother would never have thought about you." Sakura scowled angrily.

Snape winced at her words. "Yes, well, actually, his mother was a very dear friend of mine, at least until some poorly chosen words led her to fall for the one who bullied me."

"And that makes it okay to badmouth him right in front of my baby's face?!" Sakura demanded, hugging Harry protectively. Severus raised his hand placatingly, and Sakura huffed. "Okay then, can someone who's NOT a total jerk answer Harry's question?" She asked.

"While James was a bit of'a Mischief maker, Lily was one o'th kindest witches yad evar meet." Harris decided to answer. "The two were pure-hearted, carin' for everyone around em' and carin' for their boy more than anyone." Harry smiled softly at that, feeling happiness swelling up in his heart. His parents really did love him... His aunt and uncle were complete liars... Sakura saw his smile and playfully ruffled his hair.

"Well, you certainly got the best from them both." She remarked.

Harry giggled softly at that comment and smiled up at her. Hagrid nodded. "Aye, tha' e did... Yer parents are lookin' down on ya real proud, Harry." Harry seemed confused, but understood it enough to smile back at the large man.

"Thank you..." He said timidly, smiling at him. Hagrid chuckled in response and Sakura smiled at him. She was grateful Harry received a far more...tactful description of his parents from the half giant.

"So if Harry's a wizard, what do we need to know about that?" Junko asked. "He mentioned that he can't control his magic, should we be worried about that?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not at all, my dear. Harry may be powerful, but there has never been a case where a magic child has accidentally harmed a loved one."

"Oh, that's good to hear." The zombie sighed in relief.

"In about six years or so, Harry's magic will begin to grow stronger, and he may require teaching in order to control it, but you needn't worry about it for some time." Dumbledore added.

"Which brings us to our next point." Minerva cut in. "When young Harry reaches his eleventh birthday, we would like for him to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The girls (and Kotaro) all looked to one another in surprise then back to the newcomers.

"A magic school?" Ai finally asked.

"Correct. One of the most prestigious in the world." Dumbledore affirmed with a nod. "It would be an honour if you were to allow Harry to attend." Sakura frowned, thinking it over. She looked down at Harry, who looked up at her confused, then finally replied:

"We don't have to decide this today, do we?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not at all. You'll receive the letter three months before it is time for him to go. You will have plenty of time to decide then."

"Alright, good to know." Sakura nodded. She wasn't sure she wanted to send Harry to where these people taught, especially considering Dumbeldore's judgement, but she had time to think and talk it over with Harry at least.

Dumbledore rose to his feet. "Thank you for your time. We must be going now, I'm afraid."

"Oh. Well, alright then." Sakura nodded, admittedly a bit thankful to see them go.

"Before you leave, I need you to promise me one thing." Kotaro said, prompting a nod from Dumbledore. "You must keep the girls' zombie identities a secret."

"Of course. I assume we can trust you to keep the wizarding world a secret as well?"

"Naturally."

The two men exchanged a handshake, and Dumbledore turned to the others. "Come now. We must make our leave." He said to his group. Harry gave a tiny wave to Minerva as they left, making the old witch smile at him. After they had left, the girls all collectively sighed.

"Well, that was intersting." Saki said sarcastically. The girls all nodded in agreement before falling into silence, processing what they learned. Ai then looked over to Sakura, concern clear on her face.

"How's the little guy doing?" She asked.

Sakura looked down at Harry, who seemed to be very focused on something. "I think he's thinking about what he just heard." She explained.

"Mama?" He finally said, looking up.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Um... I don't know what to think..." he admittedly sheepishly. "I'm not a freak, but I have m..m.." the word seemed to be stuck in his mouth, probably in fear of what would happen if he said it.

"Magic." Sakura concluded for him gently. "You have magic. And there's nothing wrong with that at all. You can say magic. It's okay."

"M'kay." Harry mumbled, the idea of this being normal still seeming new to him. Sakura mentally sighed, seeing how deep these scars would go, and adjusted him so he faced her.

"There is nothing wrong with you, Harry." She said gently, pressing her forehead against his. "You're fine just the way you are. You're amazing."

"Thank you mama." Harry said with a genuine smile. Sakura grinned as she kissed his forehead.

"Thanks aren't needed baby, it's the truth." Mother and son hugged each other tightly, enjoying each other's presence. The other girls looked on, smiling warmly at the scene before them. "Awwww! Sakura's such a good mommy!" Lily cheered.

"Don't you mean mombie?" Ai smirked.

"PLEASE don't start with that!" Sakura practically begged.

"C'mon, mombie, just accept it!" Saki said with a very sharklike grin.

"It's a terrible pun! Stop it!"

"But mombiiiieee!" Saki whined playfully.

"Mombie!" Harry giggled, nuzzling against Sakura's chest.

"Oh not you too..." Sakura muttered.

Harry giggled softly. "Sorry." He mumbled as he cuddled in closer to her bosom. She smiled.

"I can't be mad at you." Harry giggled again and enjoyed the warm embrace of his mother. Mommy, Mombie, whatever Harry called her, Sakura was okay with.

Sakura rose to her feet. "Guess we should probably get some breakfast now, huh?" She asked, prompting the others to nod and file into the kitchen. "Pretty sure it's Junko's turn to cook."

"That's right. So you two get comfy and the food'll be ready in a minute." Harry smiled and nestled closer in Sakura's lap, enjoying the feeling of her fingers running through his hair gently. Sakura smiled. He was just like a cat. Her thoughts were inturupted by Romero panting loudly as he entered the kitchen, heading for his food. Seeing the dog made Harry let out a childish giggle.

Romero yipped at Harry in greeting before digging into the food in his bowl, eager to satisfy his hunger. Sakura giggled. "Romero's a very hungry little guy, isn't he?" Harry was about to answer, when his stomach growled audibly, making him blush somewhat. "Awww, and so are you." Sakura laughed giving him a playful poke onthe nose.

Harry giggled softly, then smiled as Junko brought in the plates of food. "I thought I'd go more western today, so I made bacon and eggs... I hope that's okay with everybody." No one complained as the food was set in front of them, Sakura picked up some bacon on a fork and smiled.

"All right, Harry, open up!" She said, gently moving the piece of bacon to the boy's mouth. He ate it up eagerly and smiled.

"It's great Auntie Junko!"

"Aw, thanks honey!" Junko smiled. The group finished breakfast, then decided to go do their daily practice session. Harry bounced excitedly, eager to watch his family sing again. The idols all noticed and smiled warmly at his enthusiasm. Sure, they had met plenty of fans, some young, some old, and they all meant a lot to them, but Harry would always hold a special place above them all. Harry watched them dance, and he felt overwhelmingly happy at the scene before him. So much so that he felt like dancing as well. So he stood up in his little corner and did his own dance on the side. This didn't go unnoticed by the idols, and some of them began stumbling over their words or outright stopping to watch. It was too adorable! Even Kotaro couldn't bring himself to tell them to get back to work.

Harry noticed however, and blushed slightly, looking down at the floor. "Sorry...Am I distracting you?" He asked, feeling rather embarrassed.

"HE'S SO CUTTTEEE!" Lily exclaimed, her face lighting up brighter than anyone had seen before, and somewhat startling Harry.

He looked down shyly and tapped his fingers together. "Thank you..." He mumbled before sitting back down, still blushing heavily at her gushing.

"Why'd YOU have to fond him?" Saki whispered.

"You would've taken him in?" Sakura replied.

"Yes!"

Sakura smirked at her biker friend and shrugged. "First come first serve!" She explained. Saki just rolled her eyes and lightly thumped Sakura's head. Harry smiled as Romero walked into the room, settling down next to his friend, watching the idols return to practice. He rolled over slightly and Harry giggled, beginning to rub his belly. Romero panted softly in delight, loving the feeling of his belly rub. Harry was very happy... So far, this was a very, very good day for him.

He had a family full of people who loved him... He had food, a roof over his head, he finally had closure on his parents' deaths...

He squeaked cutely when Sakura picked him up and hugged him close. This was his life now... And it was perfect.


End file.
